With Golden Fur
by VlightPhase
Summary: AU. Continues where Sacrifice ended.
1. Troubled Sisters

This story is a sequel to Sacrifice.

Disclaimer: All elements from Ranma ½ belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Troubled Sisters

…

The sun resting on the horizon glinted off Akane's bushy tail as it curled around her paws and under her chin. Having given up keeping her heavy eye lids open Akane let the evening lull her mind to blissful silence as she soaked up the last rays of sunlight. A slight puff of air on her shoulder meant that Ranma was beginning to doze off as well, his head resting in her mane, his body curled off to the side of her. The sudden disturbance of urgent footsteps approaching the gate caused Akane's eyes to snap open as Ranma groaned in her ear. Both sat up and the two shisa sluggishly made their way, stretching and yawning, to either side of the path that led from the gate to the Temple-Palace entrance.

When she saw who was coming, Akane immediately snapped into one of her customary responses: staring with her mouth closed. Ranma had his mouth open.

Nabiki rapidly strode into the yard then abruptly stopped just inside the gate and turned to Kasumi who was right on her heels. "I can't stand this anymore, Kasumi. A little more than a week ago our sister was killed, and I want to know why."

"Nabiki, wait! There is no need to be so hasty! The Great One-"

"Face it Kasumi! The Great One doesn't care about us! We have done nothing but honor Him our entire lives and He still uses us like pawns in a game!" Nabiki was breathing heavily, desperate fury etched on her face.

"I know, Nabiki, but I don't want to lose another sister," Kasumi's eyes had a determined look that almost overshadowed the fear.

"If you're afraid then don't follow me, but I need answers."

As Nabiki sharply turned away Kasumi grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "This is a God we're talking about. You can't just blackmail or trick Him into giving you what you want. If He doesn't want to share then He won't," Kasumi slowly stepped closer to her sister, "We have already lost Mother and now Akane, the grief is tearing Father apart, please don't let me lose you too."

Bowing her head so that Akane could no longer see her face Nabiki answered in a soft voice, "I can barely stand it, Kasumi. Maybe I should have seen the signs when Ranma started to become so distant, but I didn't and now Akane… I need a reason why all this has happened. I can't stand the thought that all this happened for nothing and…"

Kasumi looked into her sister's face, "I understand. We can go and ask the Godling, He might give us an answer, but He also might not. Perhaps The Great One will remember how we prayed to His shrine every day." With that said the two sisters slowly made their way towards the building's entrance.

Akane kept an attentive eye on her sisters. Witnessing the entire scene had caused her heart to ache to run over to them and assure them that she was alright, but she was still frozen in her place. As her sisters approached Akane was distracted out of her thoughts when she saw a smoky shadow follow them.

The closer her sisters came, the more Akane thought the shadow had only been a figment of her imagination. But then, just as her sisters were passing her and Ranma, the shadow seemed to run into an invisible wall and forcibly detached itself from the two of them. The black mist hung in the twilight air for a moment before it formed into the bloody corpse of a woman with fangs and claws. Nabiki and Kasumi, unaware that anything had happened, continued up the steps and into the sacred building.

"Curses!" The shadow woman shrieked, "how dare you shisa keep me from my hosts!"

Akane, unable to stand anymore, snarled, "what were you doing to my sisters?"

The demon opened her mouth to show off extra sharp teeth that she licked with a tongue that was far too long, "feeding off their anguish. The thirst for vengeance in the younger was especially tasty."

The crooked smile was too much for Akane. She pounced towards the evil spirit fully intent on causing permanent damage. Just as she reached her target Ranma let loose a ground shaking roar and sprung after her to join the fray.

Avoiding the demon's claws Akane bit into the spirit's arm ready to distract it while Ranma attacked. But the arm broke off and began dissolving to nothingness in her mouth. The spirit took the opportunity to flee, barely being missed by Ranma's claws, hissing her displeasure at the shisa as she left the temple grounds.

"Good riddance," Ranma snorted, "though I wonder why it ran like that-I was looking forward to a good fight!"

Akane stared at him. She had almost forgotten he was there when she saw her sisters and was startled to remember his presence when he roared. Now he served to remind her that she wasn't alone, that helped to take the bitterness out of seeing her sisters again. Looking down she softly spoke, "Ranma, thanks."

He turned back to look at her, "Akane-"

"What was that?" Both of Akane's distressed sisters reappeared on the porch. In contrast, the Godling that followed was His usual unaffected self as He lit the lanterns against the growing darkness.

To Akane's displeasure she found herself and Ranma freezing once again, this time Akane with her mouth open and Ranma with his mouth closed.

"What was that noise?" Kasumi peered out into the yard.

The puppet responded in a bored, emotionless voice, "The shisa defended the temple."

Snorting her disbelief Nabiki spun to face the puppet and rasped out, "Stop playing games with us." When the Godling didn't react she continued, "You stole our sister and future brother-in-law from us to be closer to us mortals, and then you proceed to mock us! How-"

"Nabiki," Kasumi cut in, uncertainty in her voice, "the shisa moved-before they were on either sides of the path, now they are in the center of the path."

Nabiki stared in disbelief at her older sister, "So the creep asked one of the servants to move them and play a bad joke on us, that doesn't m-"

"Their postures are different, too."

"You're not telling me you think they are real?"

As Akane listened to her sisters' conversation she dared to let her hopes grow in her chest. She also saw the corner of the puppet's mouth turn up. He almost looked smug, well as smug as an emotionless puppet could look.

"Your sister and brother are closer than you think," the monotone voice sharply contrasted with the smug appearance.

The two elder Tendo sisters turned to stare at the puppet.

"You may move," the puppet then addressed the shisa.

Akane saw Ranma's ear twitch from the corner of her eye, before she felt her frozen muscles melt. She closed her mouth and cautiously took a step forward, unsure how to react. Ranma, on the other hand didn't seem to have any such hesitations. He stretched and yawned, and when he noticed Akane watching him he walked over and nudged her side hard enough for her to stumble to keep her balance.

Akane's sisters were now looking back and forth between them and the puppet.

Kasumi's voice was filled with disbelief, "The shisa are alive."

Nabiki began staring hard at Ranma and Akane, and she slowly made her way down the steps. "A-Akane? Ranma?" her voice was soft and unsure, but her eyes were widening with realization.

Unable to find her voice, Akane nodded and approached her sister, meeting her at the bottom of the steps. She sensed Ranma follow not far behind.

Stepping down next to her sister Kasumi watched as Nabiki knelt and gently held Akane's head. Nabiki looked into Akane's eyes before speaking, "your eyes are the same… you are Akane." She stared a moment, her eyes misting, before throwing her arms around Akane and pulling her in to a hard embrace.

Akane closed her eyes and hummed; glad her sister had found her. It wasn't long before Kasumi too fell to her knees and joined in the hug, and the sisters basked in the warmth of having found each other.

A short eternity later Akane felt the arms around her loosen and her sisters let go and leaned back. Both her sisters had been crying and Akane felt some extra moisture in her eyes as well. Looking around she found Ranma awkwardly still standing behind her trying to look everywhere else. She noticed her sisters following her gaze to Ranma.

"Ranma, it's good to see you too," Kasumi and Nabiki both moved to hug him as well.

Akane suppressed the urge to giggle at Ranma's reaction; as soon as her sisters had switched their focus to him a look of slight panic washed over his features. His eyes had widened and his ears and tail had both dropped, he almost looked like he was considering bolting when they reached him. At the sight of Ranma's nervous eyes peeking out from over Kasumi's shoulder Akane did chuckle, though it came out as more of a rumble. Her sisters let go of Ranma and Akane tried not to laugh again as she watched him visibly relax.

A short silence followed before Nabiki asked, "how did this happen?"

Akane sighed, "It's a long story."

Both sisters jumped slightly, "you can talk?" They both asked rhetorically, and then chuckled a bit.

Nabiki looked up toward the steps, "what happened to the Godling?"

"He went back inside a while ago," Ranma rumbled.

"Good," Kasumi smiled, "then you two can tell us what happened."

Akane, with help from Ranma, did just that as the stars began to come out. Being with her sisters again made Akane feel on top of the world, and after scaring that evil spirit away she thought that maybe she could get used to being a shisa for a while.

…


	2. How it Began

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.

How it Began

….

Sleep eluded him. Despite the stars casting a serene light and the warmth and comfort of his living pillow Ranma still couldn't sleep. Listening to Akane's soft breathing he let his mind wander vaguely to events earlier that evening. He was still a bit puzzled about the behavior of the evil spirit. It seemed to be ready for a fight one moment and was running away the next. He wondered if that was a normal reaction for a spirit or if he should be worried. Yet he was glad that Akane's sisters had found them, regardless of the unwanted visitor. Akane and his lives had changed so drastically they needed something familiar to remind them it all wasn't just some strange dream. The Tendo sisters provided that stability and Ranma wasn't surprised that they had ended up talking well into the night. It was only when a server's apprentice appeared to blow out the lanterns and offer the Tendo sisters a bed for the night that they realized how late it was.

Akane shifted in her sleep, stretching out more causing Ranma to adjust his head on her shoulder. He took a big breath, letting Akane's scent wash over him as he tried once again to drift into slumber. Instead his mind drifted back to events almost a year ago.

….

Back then Ranma didn't give much thought to the first few signs. He might have paused a moment longer than normal to flee from Akane's latest attempt at cooking. When one of his suitors grabbed on to him he stood a bit straighter and, only stuttering once or twice, asked them to stop, instead of disintegrating immediately into a flustered idiot. He found himself pausing outside the village shrine to The Great One a bit more than he used to. Back then Ranma couldn't imagine how much his life would change in the following month, let alone how his life would spiral downwards in the next year.

The first noticeable sign came when he was training with his old man. Ranma had followed his father to a seaside cliff not far from the village, and he stood waiting for Genma to explain what training they would do that day.

The elder Saotome dramatically paused his arms crossed, watching as his son mimicked him before bellowing, "Lions push their cubs off cliffs to make them strong, Ranma! I see no reason why the Saotome clan should not also be just as strong!" He craftily sprung behind his son, positioned perfectly to side kick him off the cliff.

Ranma, exasperated at the antics of his old man, suddenly felt his body move on its own, as if someone else had suddenly taken control of his muscles. He found himself stepping away from the cliff side and addressing his old man. "This is unnecessary. I am strong enough," before adding as an afterthought, "Father." As Ranma found himself striding away he was flabbergasted by his own actions. What had come over him? He never called Genma 'Father'; it was always old man or pop. And while he knew his old man had some crazy ideas about training he had never refused to try in case it actually worked.

Falling fifteen meters into the ocean only to climb back up didn't sound any more dangerous than knocking every single bee from a hive or burning himself over and over trying to grab chestnuts from flames. In fact with all the potions, poisons and traps his rivals and suitors were always throwing around his average day was rather dangerous. Ryoga had even strengthened himself while learning the Breaking Point by slamming into boulder after boulder, why would Ranma balk at a little cliff? Yet Ranma was walking back to help work in the village fields instead of mastering cliff diving even as his pop yelled at him to come back.

That evening meal was more than a little tense. His pop refused to send the slightest glance Ranma's way and didn't even bother to try and steal his food. The Tendos, after hearing about the afternoon events warily kept an eye on the Saotomes. Ranma, for his part, still had no idea why he acted the way he did, and so settled for ignoring his father and all the curious and worried glances from the Tendos.

After the meal as Ranma made his way to the bedroom he shared with his father Akane stopped him. "Ranma, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

At the concerned look in her eyes he almost considered telling her about the weird feeling that came over him. Instead he shrugged her off, "I'm fine." When he saw hurt and anger wash over her features he continued, "Really Akane, nothing's wrong, I'm just tired," and made his way into the room. As he lay down that night he felt guilty for dismissing Akane, but he didn't want her to make a big deal out of anything. So his body had seemed to move on its own, it was probably just that he was fed up with the craziness of his life. He doubted that strange feeling of strings attached to his limbs would ever happen again. Despite his reasoning Ranma still spent the night with a sour taste in his gut as uncertainty gnawed at him.

A few days later a messenger returned with news for the Saotomes. Much earlier, when Ranma and Genma had first settled down with the Tendos, Genma had asked a travelling merchant to discreetly inquire about the whereabouts of Nodoka Saotome. (The elder Saotome had figured that if he knew where she was he could better hide from her for breaking a little promise). After greetings were exchanged and tea was offered the messenger looked solemnly at the gathered individuals. He told them briskly that the home Nodoka had been living in was burned to the ground. No signs were left indicating whether the Saotome matriarch had successfully escaped or not.

Upon hearing the news Ranma again felt that odd feeling of something else controlling him. His body merely shrugged at the news and commented rather tonelessly, "All mortal lives come to an end." Eyes from his pop, the messenger, and every single Tendo bore into him and he couldn't blame them. Inside he had received the news with a shocked sort of grief, what had caused him to act so indifferent outwardly? He may only have had a vague memory of his mother from before his travels, but he didn't want any harm to come to her either.

Ranma came out of his thoughts a few moments later when he realized Akane was calling his name. Shaking out of the stiff posture he was in he murmured an apology and excused himself.

By that evening the entire village had heard of Ranma's bizarre behavior. Wild rumors and theories flew from household to household about possible causes and solutions. To avoid many humiliating encounters Ranma had taken to barricading himself inside his room. That didn't stop his many suitors from dropping by to 'help' him. Ukyo tried to convince him that living with the Tendos was stressing him out, Kodachi claimed the menial tasks of the lower classes was doing him in, and Shampoo just insisted her presence would make him better. The three of them soon began their usual battle royal with each other, complete with the poisoned bouquet, sharpened spatulas, an ornate sword, and several other miscellaneous weapons.

All of them together were giving Ranma a headache. All he wanted was some peace and quiet to try and figure out what was going on. Instead he spent his time dodging stray attacks and trying to minimize damage without being dragged into the fight. Eventually Akane lost her temper at the racket and chased them all out of the house. By that time the eldest Tendo and Saotome were snoring loudly with black petals surrounding them, the walls were peppered with dents and holes, and the door was no longer able to fully close.

Instead of finally having some peace and quiet as Akane helped him commence repairs another unwanted visitor appeared. Kuno showed up spouting how Akane and the pigtailed girl's hands were his now that Ranma received his karmic punishment in the form of a terminal illness. Nabiki finally chased the elder Kuno sibling away by convincing him that Ranma's 'illness' was contagious and the only way to cure and prevent its spread was to consume some rare mountain flower. After Kuno ran off spouting how he would save his loves Nabiki received quite a few questioning looks. She merely shrugged and said that when Kuno returned he would pay to hear everything that had happened while he was gone.

Ranma and Akane worked together to patch up the room and repair the new holes created from Kuno's visit. As they worked Ranma let his mind wander. He had felt that strange feeling of something else moving him several times, and each time had only lasted a few moments. Every experience he had become a spectator to his own actions where he was just watching as someone else lived his life. His skin crawled at the thought of experiencing the sensation again, but ultimately Ranma couldn't make any sense of it.

Eventually Kasumi stepped in the room. After hesitating she softly informed Ranma that she had asked the merchant to deliver another inquiry to the Temple of The Great One. Perhaps a priest from the city a few hours away could come and determine if anything was wrong with Ranma.

For his part Ranma felt insulted that everyone was convinced something was wrong with him. Just when he was going to dissuade the idea he felt that other presence within him again. His voice spoke in a monotone, "That would be well." Startled as the presence left just as quickly as it had come he shooed the sisters out claiming he was very sleepy.

The priest arrived the next afternoon. After good natured introductions and greetings he asked Ranma to come with him to stand before the village shrine to The Great One. As they walked almost the entire village stopped what they were doing to gather around and watch the show. Ranma's father, the Tendos, Ukyo, Shampoo, even Mousse and Cologne managed to muscle their way in front of the crowd. The only ones who didn't seem to be there were the Kunos (Both Kuno siblings had already left for the mountains to find the rare flower to cure their respective loves).

The priest calmly asked Ranma to stand facing the shrine and he would read his spiritual aura. As Ranma nervously stepped into place the crowd grew silent as the priest closed his eyes and raised his arms toward Ranma. For a moment nothing happened. Suddenly a flicker of white light surrounded Ranma for an instant and just as quickly disappeared.

Gasping, the priest jumped as if shocked and stared in awe at Ranma. His heart pounding loudly Ranma watched the priest catch his breath and listened to the crowd murmur around him. Finally the man looked up and pronounced, "The Great One has chosen you to be His host."

Back at the Tendo home the priest explained a bit more in a flustered voice, "Some Servers from the Temple-Palace will have to come to assist the Chosen and make sure the possession goes smoothly… it is about a week and a half before the next full moon… I must be going, there isn't much time!" He swiftly made himself ready for the road before turning one last time to Ranma, "Son, it has been an honor to meet you," he bowed deeply and then left.

Ukyo and Shampoo, who were standing outside the door, began jumping and squealing in delight, even hugging each other in their excitement. The Saotome patriarch was shouting along the lines of 'that's my boy!' while the Tendo patriarch was weeping about having a god in the family, his two eldest daughters patting him on the back and humoring him. Akane, however, had moved to sit troubled in the corner. Ranma, still paralyzed from shock, felt that he ought to join her. He watched everyone jumping around in joy and wondered what being a host to a god really meant. An ominous feeling filled his gut, was this really something to celebrate?

Ranma stared at the ceiling that night, still trying to take in all the news. Eventually he gave up and got up. He wandered around in the dark for a bit before he felt drawn to the room where the Tendo sisters slept. Moonlight streamed in through the window as he tiptoed past two of the sisters to the youngest's side. There he sat watching her sleep. At the sight he slowly felt all worries and thoughts melt away until all that was left was Akane's soft inhale and exhale. Eventually an overwhelming sense of peace flowed over him and before he knew it he was asleep, slumped on the floor facing Akane.

….

The silvery quarter moon rose to show that Ranma's nose was still buried in Akane's mane, but now his breathing had deepened and slowed to match hers.

….

Updates will be sporadic.


	3. Uncertainty

Disclaimer: I still don't own Ranma 1/2.

Uncertainty

…

She woke with the birds before dawn. Raising her head she felt Ranma's head slide off her shoulder to the ground. He grumbled in his sleep and settled for burying his face into her side. Looking around Akane noted how empty the temple yard looked with the hazy pre-dawn mist. The place looked surreal, like the home of gods hidden in the mountains above the clouds. Akane snorted to herself when she realized that was what this was-complete with the mythical beasts for guards.

Standing up she watched Ranma as he groaned and curled into himself. Recently he had become so affectionate towards her. It wasn't that she didn't want the affection; it was just so sudden. Akane knew that she always cared for the pigtailed man, and she knew that her feelings had grown over time. Before she had always had an inkling that Ranma felt similarly towards her, though she did have her moments of doubt. He had gone from small gestures of friendship to…nothing as the Godling took over his body. And now he was heaping affection on overtime. It was suggesting to her that perhaps he cared for her more than she thought. She was just surprised at the intensity of his emotions that ran for her. Still, whatever happened she silently hoped he would stay by her side.

Akane stretched a bit, loosening her muscles and shaking away the last traces of slumber. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow move. Squinting Akane tried to make out what it was, but the shadow was just under the tree on the other side of the yard. Cautiously she stepped closer and a rancid stench that reminded her of the evil spirit from the day before hit her. Growling softly Akane dropped down and did her best to disappear as she stealthily crept closer. She made it to just beyond the reach of the tree when the shadow-she still couldn't make out what it was- jerked and then ran for the temple gate. Snarling she leapt up to give chase but stopped when the shadow made it past the gate. Cursing inside Akane stood rumbling angrily facing the gate.

She heard a snort from Ranma before he groggily sat up, "Akane?"

As Akane turned to answer him a Server came out of the living quarters of the Temple-Palace and both shisa froze. The Server made his way carrying two trays with food and water on them. He placed the trays on either side of the steps, as he had every day since the shisa arrived, before turning toward the gate so he could roughly face both shisa. He bowed, "Honored Shisa, receive these offerings and guard us from harm." The Server then retreated back into the temple.

Akane saw Ranma glance at her from the corner of his eye, to see if she would follow, before trotting over to one of the trays to begin eating. Her stomach grumbled, and so, sighing Akane made her way over to the other tray.

Bending down to take a bite she heard Ranma say around a mouthful of food, "He could just say 'Breakfast' each morning."

Pausing Akane stared down at her food, "I don't think he or the other Servers believe we are alive…"

Ranma raised his head to peek at her, "but we have eaten the food every day, and they must notice that we move around…"

All Akane's recent begrudging acceptance of becoming a shisa evaporated and she snarled, "Face it, Ranma! Almost nobody thinks we're alive! We're not human anymore, we're…we're these things that people only half believe exist!"

"Maybe….maybe there is something we can do about that."

Akane looked up into his blue eyes, but before she could ask him to elaborate his former body interrupted them.

"Today will be busy." The puppet commented in His dry monotone as He looked out beyond the gate.

…

The Tendo sisters barely had enough time to say their goodbyes and promise to visit when the first visitor came. In fact he came so suddenly that Ranma and Akane were forced to freeze in the midst of Kasumi and Nabiki. The confused sisters spent a moment or two waving their hands in the shisa's faces before they were forced to leave mid-goodbye. Ranma could see Akane's ear twitching in annoyance and just knew her temper was rising.

Once the visitors started coming there was hardly a moment's break. They came in a near continuous line, to ask for the Godling's blessing and advice or to offer gifts. Through it all the two shisa were forced to sit still staring. In the few momentary breaks they were allowed the most they managed to accomplish was switch which had the mouth open and which had the mouth closed. Ranma was thankful for small favors, having your mouth dry out regularly was not a pleasant experience.

Ranma still had not managed to tell Akane what he meant earlier that morning before the puppet interrupted them. He was aching to tell her his idea, if nothing else then to distract her from her growing temper and hopefully put her in a better mood.

Eventually the patrons did lessen, but as they did the clouds gathered and darkened. With only a few drops for warning the rain poured down. Two shisa raced for the porch of the temple seeking the shelter of its overhang. Dripping, now out of the rain, Ranma shook himself spraying water everywhere. Akane standing next to him hissed back irritated at the additional water. In retaliation she returned the favor, shaking the water out of her coat and drenching Ranma again.

Ranma huffed, but remained silent. He was cranky from the rain and sitting stiffly all morning but he didn't want to upset Akane anymore either. Still, he found it hard to overcome his own bad mood.

Akane spoke, trying to lighten the mood, "look on the bright side, you're not female."

"I guess so," he muttered as he jumped up onto the porch railing. In the past year he had actually stopped thinking of his curse much. Yes, it was annoying and he would have jumped at a cure, but compared to that parasite stealing his body it was a minor nuisance. Speaking of the parasite he better tell Akane about his idea before they were interrupted again. Ranma padded in a circle his claws holding his balance on the railing as he looked down at his companion, "Akane, you remember what I was saying earlier?" Her ears and eyes flicked in his direction signaling that he had her attention, "This is a temple, we could-"

His former body interrupted them, by walking over to the steps and standing behind the two shisa. Ranma wanted to scream at the injustice of it all. In that instant Ranma almost considered pouncing on his former likeness. Ranma did, after all, now possess claws and canines - but against all his former abilities, plus unknown godly powers? The male shisa settled for growling not so softly.

The Godling, not surprisingly, ignored him. Instead He addressed Akane, "female shisa, did the evil spirit return this morning?"

Akane's ears flattened and her eyes flashed as she snarled in response, "I have a name!"

Looking out into the rain the puppet continued, unaffected, "I shall begin training you on how to deal with spirits soon," He abruptly turned to leave only to pause two meters away, "A protective ward was placed on your sisters."

Ranma and Akane stared blankly as the Godling left their sight. Ranma had noticed that while the last message was still said in a monotone like always it was…softer. Just why did the Godling tell them that? Did he actually care about them? Shaking his head the shisa dismissed his thoughts; the body thief could just as easily have an ulterior motive.

He realized that he and Akane were once again alone when she jumped up onto the opposite porch railing. Ranma leaned towards her, "Akane, we could search the temple for ancient scrolls. It's bound to have some-and the scrolls might contain magic or instructions to help get our bodies back!"

Brown eyes met his with the faintest glimmer of hope. "Alright Ranma," her ear turned toward the temple door in worry, "but how will we do that without being noticed?"

He had to sit back and think about that one. "We'll come up with something. Either we could sneak around during those 'lessons' or we could sneak around at night… or something."

Akane looked down at the raindrops splattering the ground, "that might mean leaving the temple unguarded… we should only search one at a time."

"You actually want to guard the temple?" Ranma didn't mean to sound so disbelieving but he was genuinely surprised.

Akane sputtered, "That, that thing that followed my sisters and the one this morning-they are evil, Ranma," she met his eyes, "as angry as I am at what happened to us… those things are worse, would do worse. Couldn't you…sense it?"

Ranma relaxed, so he wasn't the only one who felt the foreboding from that thing last night, "Yes, I'm just…surprised." Her words tickled his mind and his attention snapped fully toward Akane, "Wait, you said there was one this morning?"

Akane shifted uncomfortably, "yeah, well, I chased it out the gate right before you woke up."

Ranma narrowed his eyes, "you should have woken me up."

Akane flicked her tail, "I chased it out."

After a minute Ranma sighed and let the matter drop as he lowered his shoulders to sit sphinx-like. He watched as puddles began to form around the yard and remembered a time when he loved to jump in them. Back when it was just him and his Pop and things were simpler. "We'll be human before you know it, then we won't have to worry about these things anymore."

"Yeah…" Akane trailed off as she looked out the gate to watch the rain fall in the road.

…


	4. Interference

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.

Interference

….

Ranma watched as the Server left after having placed their morning meal and made his usual offering. Four days had passed since the Tendo sisters had visited and not much had changed. Despite the Godling's announcement three days ago to train Ranma and Akane the stream of worshippers and the Servers themselves had demanded all of the puppet's time. Thus any such training was prevented from taking place. Which was just as well, as Ranma hadn't been able to come up with any workable plans to sneak around the place without some more knowledge of the layout, nor had Akane. Ranma trotted over to his bowl and lowered his head to eat. The scent of ramen noodles in broth brought Ranma to a momentary halt before his hunger took over and he ate anyway.

The ramen had reminded him of Shampoo and her actions a week and a half ago. Once the Servers of the Godling began invading his life the Amazons had stepped back in order to not interfere with the process. Shampoo had still managed to greet Ranma at least weekly with an over-friendly hug and a bowl of ramen. That day, the day before he and Akane became shisa, Shampoo brought over something Ranma found much more horrifying.

Ranma remembered it clearly as an unforgettable nightmare. He, or rather the Godling with him along for the ride, was sitting on the floor meditating when several Servers and priests all dressed in heavy robes began to gather around. Once they were standing in a semi-circle around him the first one bowed and spoke. "My Reverence, as you know tonight is the full moon and tomorrow is the final sacrifice to secure your presence in this realm," he stopped, hesitating.

Ranma felt the Godling raise his head to look fully at the group, but nothing more.

A second Server continued, "We believe we have chosen the correct maiden, but," the man paused.

Ranma felt his heart freeze, a maiden? Why did they need a maiden? This time it was a human sacrifice? He struggled momentarily to regain control, to shout for this madness to end, for the 'Servers' not to harm anyone.

Another of the priests bluntly stated, "She is proving….difficult to persuade or subdue."

The barest glimmer of hope reached Ranma. Perhaps they would not manage to obtain this maiden, perhaps they would fail and he would finally have a chance at evicting his invader. The door opened, stealing his attention, and a shadow fell across the floor. The familiar figure of Shampoo dressed proudly in her Amazonian armor marched in to the center of the circle with a limp body over her shoulder.

Placing her load on the ground she spoke to the gathering, "The Amazons are proud to honor The Great One and serve Him," a dark glint lit her face, "I, Shampoo, brought the sacrifice, please look after my people."

Ranma's mind screamed with denial at the sight of the blue-black locks that covered the woman's face. He hadn't missed Shampoo's dark almost gleeful look when she had presented the body of the woman.

Meanwhile, the Servers questioned how the Amazon obtained the maiden and protested that she was needed alive.

Smugly the Amazon explained, "Shampoo snuck up and knock her out. She not know what hit her."

Staring in horror, Ranma watched as the Servers began discussing tying the woman up so she couldn't escape while Shampoo smirked in the corner. He attempted, once again to move the slightest amount on his own, if nothing else then to slap himself and wake from this nightmare. When it became evident that Ranma couldn't do anything the reality of the situation began to sink in.

Before, he had never truly hated any of his suitors or rivals. Ranma had always thought that when push came to shove his various suitors and rivals were in fact his friends, and he had had more than enough adventures when that had proven the case. But here, Shampoo had, in his eyes, finally shown her true colors. He could see from her eyes that once she learned that Akane was to be sacrificed she turned on her in a heartbeat for her own gain. How could he have forgotten the 'obstacles are for killing' Amazon warrior he had first met? He wondered how long Shampoo would have continued to pretend to be a friend if The Great One hadn't interfered in their lives.

Shaking his head to dispel dark thoughts, Ranma focused on the present. By now he had finished his breakfast and was lapping up some water to clean his palate. Glancing at Akane, Ranma noticed that she had also finished eating and was watching the gate, lost in thought. His ear moved back briefly when he noticed her bowl still had ramen in it. She hadn't been eating as much lately and that bothered him.

An idea occurred to him and, grinning inwardly to himself, Ranma silently padded towards Akane. Once he was in position a few meters away from her he gathered his weight on his hind legs waiting for the perfect moment. When Akane's ear twitched in his direction Ranma pounced, tackling her.

"Omphf, Ranma!"

Ranma grinned as he looked down at Akane, but he soon lost the grin when a mischievous glint lit her eye and a set of claws found his stomach and sharp teeth gripped his forearm. Ranma found himself losing his position on top as Akane used her grip to roll them over and switch positions. He retaliated by grabbing her forearm with his mouth and pulling it out from under her.

Akane responded by pulling a nasty trick. She stepped on his tail. Ranma yowled before glaring at her. "Oops," he briefly heard Akane murmur as her eyes widened with fear. It was on now.

Claws extended Ranma pushed forward and tried to pin Akane beneath him. Too bad Akane had other ideas. Using her claws she braced herself and pushed right back.

They wrestled in a mess of claws and teeth and fur when two figures entered the gate and they froze. Ranma, his forelimbs and hind limbs on opposite sides of Akane with his chest over her upper back, had his mouth firmly clamped on one of her ears and could only guess that Akane had her mouth open.

In the past week-and-a-half Ranma had found this whole freezing business rather annoying, like a fly that just wouldn't leave. Part of it was the stopping whatever they were doing, but another part of the annoyance was that people didn't really notice them, just as Akane had said; they were treated as inanimate statues and beyond a slight glance ignored.

This time, however, Ranma desperately hoped the woman and boy, as the figures revealed themselves to be, would not notice them and hurry into the temple. He had no desire to find out what they'd do or think of the shisa frozen in an embarrassing and awkward position.

For a moment it appeared that they would just pass as the young woman marched at an agitated pace directly for the steps. The little boy being dragged along unfortunately noticed the two shisa.

"Momma," he pointed and stared at the two shisa, and Ranma felt heat rise to his face.

By then the mother and son had reached the bottom of the steps and the mother turned urgently to kneel before the boy. "Listen, Yotaro, sweetie," she repeated to pull the boy's full attention to her, "Mommy has to do something really important. She has to pray to The Great One. It's really important that you wait here, do you understand me?"

The little boy nodded in response to his mother's serious tone and she in return kissed his forehead.

"Good. Now, stay here." The woman got up and, after making sure the boy would stay, entered the temple.

To Ranma's carnage the boy immediately turned toward him and Akane.

"What are you doing, doggy?" the boy asked as approached and reached out for them.

Ranma could feel the pads of his feet begin to sweat.

Eagerly Yotaro reached out and tugged on Akane's mane, "you're soft!" he exclaimed, surprised. He began to roughly stoke Akane's neck and shoulder. Then not to leave Ranma out he reached his chubby little hand out and tried to scratch Ranma's chin.

Ranma felt Akane quake slightly from the boy's attention, and when he scratched his chin Ranma grit his teeth-unfortunately on Akane's ear; he felt her wince-in order to not jerk away from the boy's prodding fingers.

Yotaro shuffled over to the other side of Akane, to stand next to Ranma's hind leg. Grabbing a handful of fur from both of them the boy yanked and clambered up using Ranma's knee as a step-stool. Once on Akane's shoulders he wiggled and wormed his way around until he sat on Akane with his head resting on Ranma's mane. Reaching up and tugging painfully on Ranma's ear Yotaro squirmed a bit to settle in before Ranma felt the boy go limp as he fell asleep.

Finally able to move again Ranma let go of Akane's ear, but was careful not to move anymore in case Yotaro slid off.

Akane immediately moved her ear around as if testing to see if it was broken. She muttered sarcastically, "Thanks for not eating my ear."

"Hey!" Ranma loudly whispered, "That wasn't my fault, the little brat was jabbing my throat!"

"Stop moving! He's sliding!"

He froze. Ever-so-slowly Ranma shifted his knee so that the boy's feet were stabilized against it. The male shisa then leaned forward and began to soothingly lick Akane's ear. She twitched her ear away at first before letting him continue. After a thorough washing he asked, "There, is that better?"

Akane sighed, "How are we going to get out of this mess?"

"Dunno, wait for his mother to come back?"

As if on cue the Godling appeared escorting the young mother out of the temple. She followed Him practically groveling at His feet, "Thank you! Thank you, I'm ever so grateful," the woman bowed over and over.

Simultaneously at the gate a different woman appeared. One that Ranma was much less happy to see. Twisting his head slightly toward the newcomer he froze his mouth open as Akane's snapped shut.

In the center of the gate stood Shampoo her eyes burning with determination.

…...

Happy New Year.

I did some more research on shisa. Apparently "shisa" is what they are called in Okinawa, in other areas they are called shishi or komainu.


	5. Obstacles and their Merit

Disclaimer: All elements from Ranma ½ belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Obstacles and their Merit

….

Puzzled, her mouth firmly shut, Akane looked left toward the new comer at the gate. She had felt Ranma's low growl above her and wondered what had caused it. Evidently the little boy on her back felt it too; he shifted a bit in his sleep.

What she saw surprised her. Shampoo was framed by the gate to the Temple compound but something about her seemed different. The woman at the gate had a dark glint in her eye that Akane had never seen before.

Akane watched as the Amazon walked forward on the path toward the Temple stairs with steady steps, to stop just in front of the shisa. There Shampoo stood solidly, obviously waiting impatiently for a chance to talk to the Godling.

The young mother by the Godling quickly and awkwardly cleared her throat, "Great One, thank you for your assistance, my son and I will be leaving now." She briefly looked for her son before spotting him on the shisa. Walking over to them she bent down to pick up her son, "Honorable One, I mean no disrespect but…why are the shisa placed so strangely?"

Akane inwardly winced in embarrassment.

The puppet made no response at first. Eventually He commented, "It unnerves the dark spirits when the shisa are unexpectedly placed."

Apparently the mother accepted this and gently picked up her son. Akane silently sighed as the boy's weight left her shoulders. She couldn't wait until she got the chance to stretch her neck muscles. Meanwhile the mother glanced wearily at Shampoo and hurried down the path out of the Temple compound.

For a moment no one moved as Shampoo mutely stared at the Godling who impassively looked back. Akane could feel the mounting tension in the air. Surprisingly, she could also sense the rising apprehension in Ranma but didn't quite know what to make of it.

"It is time, Husband. Marry Shampoo. Bring strength back to the tribe."

The puppet slowly stepped down the stairs of the Temple onto the path. He replied simply, "I cannot."

Shampoo narrowed her eyelids, "Why not?" She questioned in a menacing tone. Akane jerked, thinking she saw the Amazon's shadow darken and twitch unnaturally.

The wind whipped a leaf from the tree behind the shisa past the two opposing figures. The Godling simply walked down the path to stand opposite the Amazon, just out of her reach. There He impassively stood while Akane glanced back and forth between the two individuals in front of her. Ranma let out a low rumbling growl.

Unexpectedly the puppet's mouth twitched, "One of the shisa seems rather upset at you."

A worried look flickered over Shampoo's features, but her defiant gaze returned quickly enough, "What Shampoo care about statues? Stop playing games, Ranma, and marry me."

"I am not Ranma." He looked toward the shisa and commanded, "Move."

Akane was more than a little peeved at the Godling for ordering them around, but she pushed her resentment aside for the moment when Ranma immediately launched himself at Shampoo. She couldn't help wondering why Ranma was upset at the Amazon as she watched the two of them dance around the yard.

As Akane watched, the shadow under Shampoo darkened and the Amazon drew her sword to begin trying to slice Ranma up. As a rancid smell hit her Akane jerked in surprise; it was another evil spirit!

While Ranma skillfully dodged, Akane took the opportunity to creep around to the other side of the Amazon and let out a challenging growl. The shadow shuddered and briefly assumed the shape of a bat-winged woman with curved horns before reforming itself back into Shampoo's image.

Akane saw a flicker of understanding in Ranma's eyes and knew he grasped the implication. She had little time to dwell on it however, as Shampoo switched targets and began slashing at her. Akane began frantically dodging and blocking and momentarily forgot about her shisa form. Trying to kick the sword out of Shampoo's hand she jumped with a hind leg extended and twisted her body to send her foot toward the arm holding the weapon. A lion-dog's limbs are nowhere near as long as a young woman's leg and Akane missed Shampoo's wrist by a considerable amount. Instead her hind claws hit the flat of the blade and with an ear-splitting screech scratched the sword. Landing badly, Akane expected a retaliating blow but Ranma had chosen that moment to bite into Shampoo's leg.

The Amazon let out a shriek as the shadow deserted her and she collapsed where she was in front of the gate. The dark mist formed into the winged woman with demon horns. The spirit wasted no time and rushed at the puppet, still standing on the path in the middle of the yard. Her target calmly raised His hands in front of Him, and with utter confidence performed a flawless Pride of the Fierce Tiger Blast.

Twisting to watch the spirit, Akane observed Ranma's body execute one of his signature moves. She had to shake her head to dispel the memories, and realize the differences. The energy blast had never been quite that large with a metallic white hue. Nor were Ranma's eyes ever so emotionless and calculating.

The blast hit the demon woman and she dissolved into smoke and blew away. The Godling predicted, "She will be back."

Akane glanced at Ranma as he bristled and hissed, "Stop impersonating me!" She was willing to bet he was furious at the puppet for imitating his moves and reminding him of what he had lost. Well, she was angry too! That creep took everything from them and then treats them like a pair of guard dogs! Adding insult to injury He dared to flaunt what they lost! Her own angry rumble joined with Ranma's.

The Godling blinked at them. An almost thoughtful look passed over His features, before His face hardened into the emotionless mask.

Any response was halted when two Servers and an apprentice arrived from inside the Temple-Palace and the shisa froze. Turning toward them the Godling ordered, "Place a pallet for the woman in one of the guest rooms in the living quarters and take her there. Ward the room against entry or exist of spirits and keep an eye on her."

The Temple men rushed to do His bidding. As the apprentice and one of the Servers went to carry Shampoo inside, the apprentice paused to glance oddly at Ranma. "Master," Akane heard him whisper, "Why are the shisa-"

"Come on, let's get her inside," the Server abruptly cut him off and hurriedly carried the Amazon inside.

Once again the shisa were left alone with the Godling. Akane, able to move again, got up and sat next to Ranma so that both of the shisa were on the path facing the Temple yard.

"What are you planning to do with Shampoo?" Akane snarled toward the puppet. The former young woman realized that as much as she wanted to there wasn't much she could do to oppose the Godling. One of the few things she could do was try and force that emotionless face to change and make Him realize what He had done. Akane was also worried about Shampoo, would the Godling ruin the Amazon's life as He had theirs? She was rather surprised when Ranma stayed silent at her side, wasn't he suspicious and worried about their friend?

The Godling's lips twitched, "You saved her."

To Akane's right she felt more than heard Ranma's unhappy rumble. The brown eyed shisa just felt even more irritated. "Answer the question," she demanded.

"In due time," crossing his arms the puppet said, "No more delays, it is time I began teaching you two."

"Teaching us what?" Ranma challenged. He still sounded outraged, Akane thought, even more outraged than she felt. What could be bothering him so much?

"How to be shisa." At their blank looks He expanded slightly, "How to find and fight evil spirits, how to defend and protect others from those evil spirits."

Akane stayed silent. She found that she did want to learn this stuff; she only wished it wouldn't be the imposter teaching them.

Dismissing their discomfort He told them, "Follow me."

At first Akane sat watching the familiar figure walk down the path and up the stairs so that he stood in front of the doors to the Temple's main room of worship. With a glance at Ranma, Akane got up and followed Him, her curiosity and wish to learn what was going on temporarily shoving her anger aside. She sensed more than saw Ranma reluctantly follow and batted him reassuringly with her tail.

Once He saw that they were indeed following Him the Godling proceeded down the porch to the left rather than enter the Temple doors. The porch curved around the outside of the building, serving as a walkway and boardwalk of sorts. The shisa soon discovered as they rounded the first corner that the railing only surrounded the porch on the front of the building and ended abruptly at the sides.

Looking to the left Akane was mildly surprised to see the small yard filled by a narrow vegetable garden with long rows of crops. To the right several doors stood leading to a number of rooms. She glimpsed Ranma to her side scanning the area as well.

The Godling in front ignored all and continued steadily and silently on the walkway. The building bulged out to the left ahead of them and they dutifully followed the walkway around it.

Akane paused at the sight of the backyard, a tranquil garden curved around several cherry trees. At the center of the garden, a small bridge crossed a miniature stream. In front of the bridge stood two identical shisa carved out of stone. Akane pulled her ears back and growled quietly.

The Godling slid open the door opposite the bridge and Ranma and Akane padded in behind him. Inside Ranma and Akane found a large empty room with wooden floors. The walls to the left and right of them were covered entirely with shelves of books, manuscripts and scrolls.

The puppet turned towards them and spoke, "This is where I will teach you."

…

Thanks to all who have reviewed, I really do find your comments helpful.


	6. Lesson and a Return

Lesson and a Return

Disclaimer: Not mine.

…...

Glancing at the walls Ranma stayed silent. Here was possibly the means to re-gain their bodies and yet he couldn't muster any enthusiasm. His reaction to Shampoo still weighed heavily on his mind. Even now, just the knowledge that she was nearby set him on edge. He knew now that a shadow had possessed her, so it was possible her actions toward Akane were not entirely her own. Yet Ranma still felt furious at Shampoo, and that bothered him greatly. Was it really necessary for him to bite her as hard as he had?

Sitting down next to Akane he turned his attention toward the Godling.

His former likeness pulled a book from the middle of the bookcase to their right. He then opened the book and set it before them showing a swirling image of a shisa and a sea serpent on the crinkled faded pages. The puppet began a dry lecture, "You are shisa, shishi, komainu; guardians of the physical realm against the mythical realm."

As He turned a few pages Ranma took the opportunity to glance at Akane. She was devoting her entire focus on the lesson unfolding before them. She really must be taking this fighting shadow thing seriously. Ranma quickly turned his attention back on the puppet.

"Those spirits you have encountered thus far are shadow sprites. The shadow sprites are common evil spirits that mortals often do not detect. They feed off of dark emotions and intensify these feelings in their hosts. If attached long enough the victims begin to act on their dark emotions more readily and provide more nourishment for the shadow sprites. Their feeding eventually leads their hosts to madness. Shadow sprites appear as corpses or demons and have the ability to fade into smoke and shadow.

"For shisa they are not difficult to remove. Your roar severely weakens shadow sprites that are not strongly attached to a host. Your bite causes them to dissolve and only more feedings can regenerate what they lost. If their hosts pass between two shisa they are forced out."

"What about the one from Shampoo just now, why did it try to attack you?" Akane interrupted.

Silence stretched as their instructor raised his eyes with agonizing slowness. "I am the incarnation of a God. The spirit realm views that as an immense power source with little protection."

"Then why are you here?"

He gave them a blank look, "I have reason to be here," and said no more on the matter.

The Godling continued, "Shadow sprites are difficult to permanently exterminate. They require a bite to the head or neck or to be in the presence of a shisa's roar long enough. If not exterminated they tend to hold grudges and will continually pester any who remove them from their hosts."

The Godling continued on listing other detailed aspects of the shadow sprites. Ranma did his best to stay focused but the droning of the Godling was incredibly had to listen to after awhile. Besides, verbal lessons where never his strong suit. He learned best with action and movement. Glancing at Akane he noticed as she began to sag as well, still watching and listening to the lecture. Eventually the Godling must have realized how their attentions were wavering as He sent them back to the front yard to guard the Temple-Palace.

…

Sitting once more on either side of the path that led from the gate to the front steps Ranma said to Akane between visitors, "that lesson this morning wasn't very helpful."

Akane shook her mane, "it was and it wasn't. It told us how to defeat the shadow sprites we have encountered. It didn't tell us much else though."

Ranma gave her a cat-grin, "Now we have a place to begin searching for a way to get our bodies back."

Akane flicked her tail agitatedly before resettling it around herself, "I really don't like those evil spirits."

"Come on Akane, we'll search one at a time. Tonight I'll take a look around, and then tomorrow night you can. One of us will always be guarding this place."

Akane paused to watch a cloud past overhead. She faced him and nodded her consent.

Excited Ranma jumped towards her, licked her cheek, and jumped back to his side of the path just as a visitor entered the gate and they froze. Glancing to the side he inwardly smirked at Akane's startled gaze.

….

True to his word Ranma set off to search that night. As the Servers blew out the last outside light he gave Akane a little nudge and left her sitting sentinel in the wide front yard. Crouching in the shadows from the porch on the left side of the building Ranma looked back at Akane one more time. She sat rigid her eyes and ears constantly scanning the area, as if expecting a group ambush at any moment.

Shaking his head slightly Ranma set his mind on the task at hand and masked his presence as he crept deeper into the shadows around the building. He successfully passed the point where the porch railing ended and had to slink farther under the porch to remain unseen. He kept one watchful eye on the glow in the yard from the lights in the rooms above him. The outlines of the Servers depicted them meditating, reading, and stretching, each in his own isolated chamber.

Something small and swift raced passed him and Ranma paused, crouching low. He strained his senses, but beyond a faint scent of fur he could not detect what had run past. A light breeze blew past ruffling his fur and sending particles of dust to tickle his nose. Ranma tried wrinkling his nose, then rubbing it, but the tickle intensified rather than lessened.

One of the Servers above was humming in a low voice. A night bird called. The building creaked. Some crickets chirped. Silence stretched. Then Ranma sneezed in a loud and echoing manner.

Doors opened as several of the Servers stepped outside their rooms, investigating the noise. To his displeasure Ranma felt himself freeze, one paw still draped over his nose.

"What was that sound?"

"Did you hear it too?"

"Where did it come from?"

"It sounded like a rock exploding."

"Is it a demon?"

Cursing inside Ranma listened as the high priests scanned the area.

One ventured down the steps and, after a minute of searching, spotted him, "Hey, one of the shisa is here. How did it get here?"

Another man proclaimed, "The sound must have been an ogre that the shisa startled off!"

"But how did the shisa get there?" Someone persisted.

"The ways of The Great One are mysterious. We should be honored that He protects us from darkness. Let us thank Him."

Clasping their hands in unison the Servers bowed where they stood, mumbling their thanks as they did so. Afterwards all the men filed back into their individual rooms except the one Ranma recognized as the apprentice. The younger man mumbled something about viewing the records and followed the porch toward the back of the building.

As the last one shut his door behind him Ranma felt his muscles melt and lowered his paw from his nose. He glanced towards the back of the compound and paused. With the apprentice where Ranma wanted to go there was no point in continuing his search. Was it worth the risk being caught and freezing again? Or worse, that the apprentice told the Godling what he was up to? Ranma did not know how the Godling would react, but he was willing to bet that it wouldn't be good.

He turned around and headed toward the entrance where Akane was. He would have to try later in the night to find the lore without anyone aware of what he was doing. Unfortunately, as soon as he made it back to Akane, an immense wave of exhaustion flowed over him so that it was all he could do to just settle down to sleep.

….

"Does your nose still itch? Are you going to sneeze away all the ogres again?" Akane teased good naturedly as Ranma grumbled back at her. She had been in an unordinary good mood since he told her what had happened the night before. They were both currently seated on the right side of the path just beyond the shade of the tree.

"Yeah, well, it's your turn tonight; we'll see how far you get," Ranma rumbled amused as Akane's ears twisted back.

She sniffed, "Farther than you."

Ranma playfully licked her ear, and then turned away as her head whipped around.

They were interrupted when a familiar man entered the Temple grounds and they froze.

Dressed in his usual long white robe, Mousse appeared as if he would fit right in with the generally solemn inhabitants of the Temple-Palace. His manner of behavior, however, quickly set him apart. Marching right up to the frozen Akane he pointed and demanded, "Where is Shampoo?"

Akane, of course, made no response, her jaw glued shut.

Receiving no answer did not faze Mousse as he pulled out a few throwing knives to wave around threateningly, "I know she came here last night, where is she?"

Apprehensively watching, Ranma wondered how far Mousse would go before he decided he was talking to a 'statue'. Normally he would have thought that the short-sighted Amazon would have figured it out by now, but whenever Mousse was doing something for Shampoo his brains seemed to desert him.

Luckily a voice from the porch behind Ranma distracted Mousse, "Uh, Sir? What are you doing to the shisa?"

The male Amazon immediately twisted toward the voice, entirely unbothered by the situation and responded, "Where is Shampoo?"

"Shampoo?" the man (he must be one of the Servers, Ranma decided) asked. Then his tone turned to one of realization, "Do you mean the young woman who came here yesterday? From one of warrior tribes, Amazon, I think in her case?"

"Yes! Where is she?" Mousse moved to rush towards the Server, but he either didn't see or forgot about the shisa right in front of him.

Ranma had to wince in sympathy as Akane, still mostly frozen, squinted her eyes in pain. It looked as if Mousse's knee had connected with her nose. Mousse meanwhile was still spread flat on the ground where he crashed face first after flying over Akane.

"Sir, are you alright?" the Server came down the steps and helped Mousse to his feet. He then proceeded to help the Amazon inside telling him as he did about how The Great One banished an evil force from Shampoo and that she was still recovering.

As soon as they left, Ranma turned towards Akane, "Are you alright?"

She groaned in response and covered her nose, "next time you sit closer to the path, and I'll sit farther off to the side, okay?"

"What happened?" The toneless voice asked from behind them.

Ranma turned, expecting to see the Godling as usual unfazed by the world. His eyes widened, "My hair!" Out of the corner of his eye Ranma saw Akane whip her head around and gasp. "What did you do to my hair?"

The Godling blinked at him from where He stood on the porch. "I cut it," was the simple, obvious response. Ranma's trademark pigtail was gone. Instead the Godling had a plain cropped unisex hair style.

For a moment Ranma wished the Dragon's Whisker was still in effect, just to spite the Godling. The shisa shook his head, "Why did you do that?"

The puppet gave the slightest shrug, "You did not want me to impersonate you."

The two shisa stared blankly in response.

The Godling spoke, "Your acquaintances will stay here for a few days." His message delivered He turned around and disappeared into one of the rooms not once looking back.

….

Another chapter done, yay!


	7. Plots and Defenses

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Plots and Defenses

…

Tonight was her turn. After quickly nuzzling Ranma's cheek to settle her nerves Akane sprinted silently toward the left side of the Temple-Palace. Learning from Ranma's attempt the night before, she avoided the attention of the building inhabitants by waiting until the darkest part of the night to search. The new moon made the most familiar objects dark and foreboding. Guided by the faintest star light Akane didn't bother staying next to the porch, instead sprinted through the yard, detouring around the garden.

As she ventured around where the building jutted outward, Akane detected the faintest scent of rotting meat. Slowing as her fur began to stand on end, she let her eyes and ears search the area. Her senses identified two shadowy figures sitting facing each other on the wall that surrounded the compound. Akane squinted at their outlines until she recognized them as the two shadow sprites that the shisa had encountered earlier. As the sprites conversed, Akane crouched to better blend into the night and slunk closer.

"I've tried that!" the corpse woman who had fed off of the elder Tendo sisters hissed, "The only way in not blocked by a spirit shield is through the front gate, where those damn shisa are! Just being near them I could feel my energy draining."

"We need to create a diversion," the demon woman Ranma expelled from Shampoo said, "If we both enter at once we can confuse the shisa long enough for one of us to sneak past and get a tasty host."

"You mean so you can get your host back," the first sprite snarled.

The second sprite spread her leathery wings and snapped, "My host was delectable and strong, if you help me reclaim her I could use her to persuade that idiotic male that follows her around into your hands. From there we could work to get our hosts close to the Godling until we can take his power and please Master!"

Baring her fangs the corpse snorted, "You're forgetting the shisa again, even if we claim hosts we will have to always be dodging the shisa."

The demon smiled malevolently, "We might become trapped on the temple grounds, but currently so is the Godling. If He took one step outside the temple without His precious shisa He would be devoured. Even if we might have to avoid a few flea-brains it would be worth it to grab the divine power before anyone else, from there we could control the shisa and get our hosts to come to us so we can devour their souls. When we're done we can then hand the Godling over and earn Master's praise."

Throughout the conversation Akane had been searching for a way to reach the shadow sprites. Her anger spiking from what she overheard, Akane exploded into a running leap. As the demon sprite finished her sentence Akane crashed into the wall less than a meter below where the apparitions were seated. Both shadow sprites snarled and faded into smoke to make their escape. Frustrated Akane raced for the front gate fearing they would attack immediately.

Panting and growling Akane rushed past Ranma's startled look to begin pacing back and forth directly inside the gate. She wasn't going to let the faintest wisp of those shadow parasites past!

….

In the faint glow before dawn Akane had finally calmed down enough to tell Ranma what happened. He absorbed the information quietly but she could tell from his rapidly twitching tail he was just as agitated about it as she was.

"I think we should either constantly guard the gate," Akane, now thinking rationally, suggested, "Or constantly guard Shampoo and Mousse."

Ranma made a disgruntle noise in the back of his throat, "Guarding those two isn't such a good idea."

Seeing her chance to figure out why Ranma was upset with Shampoo, Akane pounced on his tail, "Why are you so upset with Shampoo?"

He hid his eyes and turned away, "You don't know what she did."

Akane could only stare at the back of his head in confusion for a moment. "No, I don't. So tell me."

To Akane's utter frustration the sound of footsteps on the porch caused both to pause, Akane's mouth open, Ranma's mouth closed.

"Stupid Mousse! Quit following me! I'll never get out with you making such a racket!" The harsh whisper of the Amazon woman reached their sensitive ears.

"But beloved, I really don't think you should be moving! Wouldn't you rather spend another day resting?"

Akane tried her best to catch a glimpse of the scene from the corner of her eye, but unable to turn her head she could only watch from her peripherals.

A flat, but feminine, voice broke in, "Stay here and rest."

There was a sound of weapons being drawn, "Ranma Saotome! How dare you hold Shampoo here against her will!"

The female shisa wanted to roll her eyes at Mousse, but watched Ranma instead. A mask had shifted over his eyes.

"You are mistaken," the redheaded Godling stated, "I am not Ranma. I am the incarnation of The Great One, and I'm telling you to stay."

Shampoo spoke then, sounding more timid than Akane had ever heard, "Shampoo doesn't feel safe here. Too strange around Ranma who is not Ranma."

Akane noticed movement at the gate and watched as two women entered the temple grounds.

"The protection of this place is strong, stay. You are safer here than outside the temple gates."

Mousse's anger, such a contrast to the puppet's lack of emotion, demanded, "What protections? How is Shampoo safer here?"

"Many protections surround this place preventing the idle entry of malevolent spirits." There was a pause, "The strongest protection is the shisa."

Mousse snorted in disbelief, "the shisa?"

"Who knows how the Gods think?" the sardonic voice of Nabiki Tendo cut through.

Akane studied her older sisters carefully, but was pleased to note that she couldn't detect any trace of shadow sprites on them. In fact when she shifted her eyes a certain way the faintest glow of light enveloped them like a set of armor.

Kasumi walked over to Akane and softly began to scratch her ears. Akane wanted to purr in response.

"Nabiki Tendo, Kasumi Tendo," the Amazon male began, "what are you doing here?"

"It's a nice morning, isn't it?" Akane watched, amused as Kasumi reached over to scratch Ranma's ears as well, and he swerved around in surprise not expecting the touch. She had to shake her head at the sight, rumbling quietly. It wasn't often that Ranma was startled.

"The shisa are alive! Shampoo not imagining things!"

The Amazon's startled cry made Akane realize what had just happened. They had moved, in front of others, without the Godling's command. Was His hold over them weakening?

"Indeed," Akane whipped her head around, but the familiar face of the puppet was as impassive as always. Did He not care that the shisa had moved on their own? The slightest upturning of the lips graced the feminine face, "Living shisa are much more powerful than statues."

Kasumi spoke up, "Shampoo, Dear, you look pale, are you alright?"

"Shampoo…Shampoo going to lie down," she turned to go back inside and tugged on Mousse's sleeve, "just wanted some fresh air."

Akane listened as she slowly shuffled back inside the temple, Mousse hovering over her, and the Godling followed after them. As soon as the Amazons were gone Akane felt her muscles relax completely and turned to look at her sisters.

"How have you been?" Kasumi politely inquired as Ranma turned around to face them.

Ranma pulled his ears back and muttered sarcastically, "fantastic."

"Gee, Saotome, life's been just peachy for us," Nabiki crossed her arms and snapped right back, "We had to sneak out to visit you two because Daddy and Uncle Saotome started raving when we just mentioned visiting the Godling's Temple." Her eyes softened and she lowered her arms as she muttered, "not that I blame them, but they wouldn't even listen when we tried to tell them that you two were alive."

Akane, meanwhile, had crouched down, her own ears pressing against her head, "I-I'm scared." She looked up at her sisters and Ranma and hastily corrected, "not for myself, or well, not as much for myself…" She briefly explained what she and Ranma had learned and done in the past week; what they had learned about the shadow sprites, how they had been trying to glimpse the manuscripts, and what she had heard and seen during the previous night.

Kasumi hummed, "Shampoo and Mousse really shouldn't leave the Temple then, for their own safety."

"These manuscripts you want to look at, we can help," Nabiki smirked, "after all how were you planning on turning the pages when you actually had one?"

Akane growled softly at her sibling.

Halting the hostility in her sisters Kasumi remarked, "Nabiki and I could make up a story to look at the library then search at our leisure, we can also delay Shampoo and Mousse from leaving." Turning she lifted a basket that Akane had not noticed she had brought, "now, who wants some breakfast?"

…

…..

Sorry for the delay. Unfortunately the next chapter might also take me a few months or so I'm estimating from my schedule. In the mean time I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	8. Piglet Brought Troubles

Piglet Brought Troubles

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ does not belong to me.

…

True to their words, the elder Tendo sisters managed to convince the two Amazons to stay in the temple for the next several days. How they managed it Ranma was never quite sure, but he decided he really didn't want to dwell on it after seeing the classic scheming glint in Nabiki's eye. Akane's sisters only managed to slip their father's notice and help search for spells twice in the past four days, but in that time they had already made far more progress than either of the shisa had. The sisters explained their presence in the library as searching for ways to ensure their dead relatives peace in the afterlife. As a result the Servers opened the entire scroll collection to their access.

While the Tendo sisters were making such progress, Ranma was left feeling more and more useless as he and Akane sat guard in front of the temple. True, they had two more "lessons" with the Godling, explaining ogres and oni, but they couldn't search with the puppet watching them. They had each made more attempts to search the manuscripts during the night but their progress each time was blocked.

Ranma currently sat in front of the temple watching the idle movements of the passing breeze. Akane dozed in the afternoon sun next to him, her mouth firmly closed for when visitors pasted by. Luckily there weren't many guests to freeze for on this day, so Ranma's jaws were not forced open for uncomfortably long. The elder Tendo sisters were currently rifling through pages of manuscripts in the back as the general occupants of the compound were engaged in quiet afternoon activities.

In contrast to everyone else's lassitude, Ranma felt restless and on edge. He glanced for the hundredth time at Akane, wishing she was awake to distract him. He would not wake her, though. All the recent stress and worry had come crashing down on her preventing her from sleeping. This was the first time in days she had slept soundly.

He was diverted soon enough when a high pitched squeal was heard outside the compound. A very familiar black piglet with a worn bandana around its neck ran inside the gate before turning around and growling at his pursuer.

The sight brought memories crashing back to Ranma's mind. The day before the eleventh sacrifice, Ryoga had finally returned. In fact it was only a few hours before Ranma was to be escorted to the nearest Temple of The Great One where the possession would finish. Ranma, at that time, already had at least one if not two Servers following him everywhere.

Akane had walked into the common area and Ranma, seated at the table, had noted with astonishment that she was holding Pchan. When his eyes reached her face, Ranma was even more startled at the unreadable glance she gave him. Ranma had expected her look to be of relief at having found her pet after so long, but Akane's countenance took a somber tone as it had so often recently. He distinctly remembered wishing he knew what was running through her mind at that moment. Akane silently placed Pchan down before giving the two Servers bordering Ranma a weary look and leaving to get herself a cup of tea.

Ryoga, having missed the past year, stared confused at the high priests flanking Ranma.

The pigtailed boy tried to warn his rival, whispering, "You should not have come back, Ryoga."

Ryoga, misinterpreted his warning as his usual insults, growled in response to the pigtailed boy. The Godling in Ranma ignored the piglet and raised his cup of tea to drink.

The Servers, however, did not ignore the actions of Ryoga. One of them uttered, "How dare you disrespect The Great One so! You're lucky we sacrificed a boar last full moon, else this month could be your turn!"

Ryoga, quite understandable, bristled in response as the other Server reprimanded his companion, "Hush, the piglet is by far too small to serve as a sacrifice. Besides, it does not have the correct quality about it to be a proper offering to help The Great One."

Akane reentered the room then with her own cup of tea.

"Also," the Godling, through Ranma's mouth, added with a monotonous, bored tone, "That is not his true form. He could never be a proper sacrifice."

Ranma, stuck once again as a spectator, watched in panic as the Godling, right in front of Akane, lifted his teacup and splashed some of the warm liquid on the black piglet.

Stunned silence filled the room; everyone staring at the paralyzed, naked Ryoga huddled in front of the table.

Akane dropped her teacup and it shattered as it hit the floor. No one reacted. The youngest Tendo's eyes finally dragged themselves away from the horrified Ryoga to stare Ranma in the eye.

At the shock and pain in her eyes Ranma wanted to apologize or explain, but the Godling held him immotile. So he sat, terrified, waiting for the inevitable yelling and the tears.

Akane's gaze held his for an agonizing eternity. Finally, she, in a remarkably calm voice, spoke, "You knew." With that the blue haired young woman turned around and marched right out the front door.

Ranma felt as if he had just been stabbed in the chest. He longed to reach out for her, chase her down even if it would only result in her screaming at him. Any reaction other than the silent hurt. Despite his wishes the puppet master held is body rooted to the floor.

It was then after she left his sight that Ranma realized how deeply he cared for her. He loved her. And now, due to these bizarre circumstances, he was losing her and there was nothing he could do about it.

Ryoga eventually scampered away in shame, as the Servers began to assist Ranma in the move. It was lucky the Godling was controlling his movements then, for as the numbness from Akane leaving wore off Ranma wanted nothing more that to punch someone in the face.

That was the last time Ranma saw Akane until Shampoo brought her unconscious form to the Servers two months later.

…..

Now, Ryoga was back again.

Ranma's first thought was that he didn't want his old rival anywhere near Akane; if she woke up and saw him…. Ranma had no idea what Akane would think of seeing the piglet, but the male shisa had no desire to relive painful memories either.

Thus Ranma sprang to his feet fully intent on chasing the cursed martial artist out. As he sprinted toward the piglet, Ryoga's pursuer entered the Temple-Palace gate.

A body-less head with flashing eyes and gnashing teeth spat acid at the black pig. Ryoga dodged, jumping back, as Ranma re-assessed the situation.

He had no idea what type of spirit the disembodied head was, but judging from its foul stench and hostile behavior it was no less evil than the shadow sprites. Growling, Ranma quickly realized the most effective way to get Ryoga to leave would be to get rid of the creepy thing stalking him. Not to mention Ranma really didn't want that thing coming any closer. He would have to do this fast if he didn't want to wake Akane or draw other unwanted attention this way.

Luckily the head and Ryoga had their attention on each other as they made their way snarling and dodging onto the temple grounds. Seizing the opportunity Ranma leapt over the pig, his claws reaching out for the spirit. At the last second the head swiftly moved to the side forcing the male shisa to land and rapidly turn around.

The body-less spirit turned its attention on the bigger threat and spat acid at Ranma. As he dodged backwards Ranma was pleased to note that the head moved towards him, its grimy hair moving as tendrils around the face. If he kept the thing following him then he could use it to his advantage and turn the battle in his favor.

Ranma noted that while the evil spirit didn't have a battle aura precisely it did still emit a heavy presence. It would be difficult in his current form but perhaps he could modify the Dragon's Heaven Blast and use it on this horror. Another part of Ranma vindictively thought that if he found a way to complete his attack he could prevent the Godling from stealing another of his signature moves.

His mind whirling as he began to lead the spitting grotesque head in a circle, Ranma failed to notice the other supernatural guests enter the gate. That is until he heard Ryoga's squeal.

His attention diverted Ranma swore when he saw the two shadow sprites on the temple grounds. He recognized them as the two dark spirits that had been chased out before. It had been a trap! In his eagerness to lead the head in a spiral Ranma had unfortunately positioned the acid spitting horror between himself and the gate on the left side of the yard. With Akane positioned closer to the temple, but still on the left side of the yard this allowed the sprites a clear path through the right. Ryoga, the snarling black piglet, despite standing under the tree on the right side was no obstacle to the demon or corpse sprites. Ranma growled as he realized that he needed to finish his current opponent even faster.

Ranma, concentrating on the acid drooling spirit in front of him, finished the spiral with artificial calm. As the head descended on him in the center the male shisa sprang up on his hind paws, his front claws meeting and carving into the evil spirit. He felt the wind pick up and blow the howling head away. Except, as he looked around with his tornado still billowing around him, he noticed that the temple wall, the grass, the tree, all physical objects stood paradoxically still.

The shadow sprites were still affected, luckily. Ranma's Dragon's Heaven Blast had smashed the corpse into the tree and the demon against the far right wall. However, even as Ranma turned toward them they were recovering and standing up.

Shouting Akane's name to wake her up as he raced after them, Ranma knew he wouldn't be fast enough. The demon sprite was already almost to the right side of the temple.

From under the temple porch a small creature emerged in front of the shadow sprite. In the light the creature resolved itself into a calico cat. The feline hissed and yowled, arching her back at the figures in front of her. Immediately the two spirits and Ranma skidded to a halt where they were.

….

Happy (late) Halloween. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. The next chapter is written, but it needs lots of editing.


	9. The Ambush Continues

The Ambush Continues

Disclaimer: See before.

….

The sight of a cat momentarily held Ranma immobile. He fleetingly forgot about the two shadow sprites, about Ryoga behind him, and Akane getting to her feet as she took in the situation. All he could think about was the pit from so long ago with the glowing eyes. Luckily the shadow sprites appeared just as paralyzed as he was.

As Akane leapt to action and tackled the nearest shadow sprite, Ranma shook himself out of his stupor and ran to stop the remaining evil spirit. Unfortunately it was the one closest to the cat.

The demon shadow sprite was in a standoff with the snarling feline. When Ranma reached them he was unsure how to proceed. On the one hand the calico cat effectively blocked the sprite on the one side and Ranma was closing in on the other. This gave him an ideal opportunity to get rid of the shadow; Ranma recalled something about biting the sprite's neck from the "lessons" as a method of removal. However, Ranma really had no desire to get any closer to the cat.

Watching as the sprite snarled and swiped its claws at the hissing cat, Ranma shook himself. The evil spirit was worse than the cat, he told himself trying to strengthen his resolve. Growling he swiped his claws at one of the shadow's leathery wings. Dodging at the last minute the demon moved to the side leaving Ranma staring face-to-face with the calico.

He felt his fear consuming him immediately. Seeing this, the shadow sprite sniggered at his plight and tried to move past her two foes. The cat did not allow it and pounced on the demon's arm.

Shrieking the sprite shook the attacker off, but the damage had been done. Her arm smoked where the cat had touched it. Eyes flashing the demon threatened, extending her claws, "You're going to die fur-ball!"

Through all of this Ranma, absorbed by his fear, had backed away terrified by his ally. He had forgotten his surroundings once again. Out of nowhere Ryoga sank his teeth into Ranma's heel and the male shisa roared loud and long.

The demon sprite dropped to her knees in front of the calico cat and covered her ears. The corpse sprite, whom Akane had been fighting, screeched. Ranma's attention jerked toward the sound. Akane took the opportunity to jump on top of the corpse and bit the shadow's neck. The scream became a wail as the sprite's body fell as a thin layer of ash.

Ranma had stopped his roar when he had been distracted, and the demon sprite seized the opportunity to fade to smoke and escape from the temple grounds. In the aftermath Ranma was only able to take a few paces toward where Akane crouched before the inhabitants of the Temple arrived and he and Akane froze.

…

Akane, her mouth open, stared frozen as the Godling, the Servers, the Amazons and her sisters all came to investigate what had happened. She could still feel the adrenaline from the recent fight running through her veins. It made her itch for the newcomers to return to what they were doing.

The Servers were by far the worst. They stepped out into the yard and exclaimed in puzzlement at everything. Even more unusual were the Amazons who curiously stood meekly to the side. Since when had Shampoo and Mousse been so docile? At one point Shampoo rescued Ryoga from the curious Servers by picking the piglet up.

Ryoga Hibiki the piglet, Akane growled to herself, when had he gotten here? Akane still felt hurt and betrayal at the discovery of his curse. She never did hear the boys' explanations. Now it appeared that Shampoo and Mousse had been aware of the black piglet's true identity as well. Had everyone else but her known?

The Servers and the one apprentice continued to examine the shisa, the pile of ash, and the piglet. It was the Godling, in female form, her short hair slick against her skull, which stopped the Servers from prodding everything in sight. "Go back inside," the puppet commanded them, "the shisa have defended the Temple-Palace for The Great One."

As the Servers left eager to oblige, the shisa found themselves able to move again and stretched. Akane immediately focused on the redhead who descended the temple steps.

The puppet obviously held no fear of the purring cat as She walked over and picked the calico up. Yet Ranma still was terrified of felines, evident when he cringed as the Godling still holding the cat passed by him. The short haired redhead indifferently assessed the situation before speaking authoritatively, "I see the shisa eliminated a shadow sprite. The shisa also chased away a decoy heedless one and another shadow sprite."

Ryoga, still in Shampoo's arms, squealed in confusion drawing everyone's attention to him.

"You were lucky," the puppet addressed the piglet; "if you had been a man when you entered the grounds the shisa would not have been able to help you."

The piglet froze and Mousse, adjusting his glasses, spoke, "You know of his other form?"

The Godling's lip twitched, "Nothing is hidden from the divine."

Shame washed over Akane at that and she growled, shaking her head. How long had Hibiki stayed hidden in front of her face? Add to that the sight of the fake Ranma calmly holding a content feline, her tired sisters watching with confusion after having spent hours searching for a way to restore her humanity and the Amazons calmly, sedately talking. This scene was not right. She stood up, intent on walking to the far side of the tree and pretending everything was normal.

After one step the sharp pain in her side made her stop and sit down. The adrenaline rush had caused her to forget that the corpse shadow sprite had gotten a lucky hit in on her right side, in front of where her leg met her hip. Now that the hormone had left her system the throbbing ache returned. Quickly she curled her tail up and over the slash to hide it. Glancing around guiltily, Akane was somewhat relieved to find everyone else's attention on Nabiki who had marched up to the piglet in Shampoo's arms. She didn't want to worry the others with her injury.

Turning her attention back to her sisters she watched as Nabiki glared. "You are Hibiki, aren't you," the middle sister accused the piglet.

Kasumi looked shocked, but she quickly recovered. Shaking her head, the eldest Tendo sister reached out to restrain her sibling. "Nabiki let it go."

The puppet jerked Her head up. Turning toward Ryoga, Mousse and Shampoo the redhead commanded them to return inside. Akane watched perplexed as the Amazons obeyed, Shampoo still hanging on to Ryoga. The Godling with the cat followed them inside.

Their departure did not calm Nabiki down. She hissed at Ranma, "You knew didn't you?" He flinched and she turned her attention back on Akane, "What about you?"

Baring her canines Akane snarled. Part of her realized that her sister was just venting. There was a time when the middle sister seemed to know everything that went on. For Nabiki to realize several important facts had escaped her notice had to be more than a little upsetting. Akane, however, was just as upset for the same and different reasons.

Kasumi, in her placating manner stepped between her siblings, "We all know now; there is no point in dwelling on the past. I know you two are not mad at each other so do not fight over trivialities."

Akane relaxed as Nabiki let out a frustrated sigh. The shisa watched as her middle sister knelt before her. "Why can't things be normal?" Nabiki lightly stroked Akane's head.

The eldest sighed as well, "I was so close to finding something just now, too."

"Really?" Ranma walked over to them, his eyes bright with hope.

"Yes," Kasumi smiled slightly, "one of the scrolls was about removing the soul and creating a new body for it… I dropped it in my rush to see what was happening here."

"Alright then, let's get back to work and take a look at it," Nabiki briskly stood up and grabbed her elder sister. Kasumi smiled lightly back at the shisa as they walked away.

Akane, feeling exhaustion, watched them go. She almost didn't notice that Ranma had started to speak.

"This madness might finally be over," his excitement broke through her weariness. It was more than a little infectious.

She hummed and smiled in agreement and shifted her weight intending to face Ranma better, but pain spread from her side and she winced. Unfortunately for her, Ranma noticed.

"What's wrong?" He was abruptly up close examining her for injuries.

Akane tried for nonchalant, "Oh, it's nothing; I'm just a bit stiff. I didn't get to stretch before the fight, after all."

"Akane," Ranma growled out in a frustrated tone, "I smell blood." He pulled her tail out of the way and inhaled sharply at the sight of the revealed gash.

"So the shadow sprite got a lucky hit in, she certainly won't be bothering us anymore."

In response Ranma shoved her and Akane fell on her good side.

"What was that for?" She was even more astounded when Ranma draped one forelimb across to hold her still and brought his head closer to her side, "W-What are you doing?"

"Cleaning the cut," was the curt reply. With that he began to lick her wound.

The feeling made her whimper; her cut stung. In contrast every time he missed and licked her side it tickled. As an unconscious response to the sensations she began to knead the air with her claws.

Eventually he finished and turned his head toward hers. After a pause he spoke, "I'm not sure what else I can do for your cut. A bandage wouldn't work very well with all the fur, not that I would be able to put it on you."

Akane sighed, "Just leave it and let it heal on its own, I guess."

Ranma shifted so that while Akane still lay on her side he was spread across her legs, preventing her from getting up. He rested his chin on her forelimbs. "Hopefully soon we'll be back to normal."

Glancing at him curiously Akane asked, "What are you going to do when someone enters the gate and sees us now?" She referred to their current position.

He hummed, "If it's a stranger, I don't care." A brave response from someone who was as embarrassed as she was last time they were in an awkward position.

"What if it's my sisters? They are going to have to walk past when they go home, if they don't come out sooner to tell us what they found."

He gave her a look, "Then I would explain how reckless you were for getting hurt and how necessary it is for me to sit on you so that you don't move."

Akane huffed.

Ranma licked her forelimb, "Don't misunderstand. I care for you, Akane."

…

...

I want to thank my editor; she has this amazing ability to find the grammar errors I miss, as well as serving as an excellent sounding board for ideas.


	10. Best Laid Plans

Best Laid Plans

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, nor am I making money off of this.

….

Akane relaxed feeling Ranma's warmth as he lay across her legs. While his admission did not come as a surprise, she felt more than grateful for it. The affection of his words soothed her.

After several quiet moments she spoke, "I care for you too." Of course she did, how could she not?

Ranma's response was to lean over and lick the corner of her mouth. It must have been an uncomfortable stretch though, for Ranma switched to licking her upper forearm rumbling happily all the while.

Akane found herself rumbling in response as she reached toward her forelegs and licked Ranma's paws in return. He twitched in surprise and returned to nuzzling and licking her cheek now that her head was closer.

Akane enjoyed the sensations for a while before a nagging thought filtered through her happy haze. She slowly stopped licking Ranma's paws. "What is the story with Hibiki?"

Ranma stopped his ministrations and let out an unhappy sigh. Taking a deep breath he told her about how he had accidentally knocked Ryoga into the cursed spring and later vowed not to tell anyone.

Akane listened in silence. Eventually she murmured, "You should have told me. Or Hibiki should have told me. Someone should have told me, how many know?"

Ranma paused before answering, "All the cursed spring victims know. I'm not sure who else. Ryoga would have a better idea."

"I'm more than a little mad at him right now," Akane growled and shot Ranma an angry look, "I haven't completely forgiven you yet either. You owe me for this."

Ranma nodded in silence.

Akane continued as an idea popped into her head, "You could tell me why you are upset with Shampoo."

"What?" That clearly was not what Ranma was expecting.

"Why are you mad at Shampoo?"

Wearily Ranma asked, "Will telling you help you to forgive me and Ryoga?"

Akane contemplated her response, "It'll help, although it will be a long time before I forgive Hibiki." She spat out the last part.

Reluctantly Ranma bit out, "Shampoo… is the one who turned you in to be sacrificed."

Akane again took the news silently. She let out an unhappy growl, "Hibiki betrayed my trust and privacy, Shampoo handed me over to be killed and The Great One stole our bodies and made us His guards." Her tail lashed angrily and she extended her claws into the ground.

"I'm furious too, but we still have each other and your sisters," Ranma rubbed her cheek again and gave her ear a lick. "We'll get through this," He seemed to be trying to convince not only Akane but also himself.

Akane let the tension leave her body and tried to calm down.

"You'll see, Akane, Kasumi and Nabiki will help us turn back to humans, and we'll sort out this mess."

….

The first one to come to them was not one of Akane's sisters; it was the now male Godling. Ranma watched Him warily, wondering why He came. The male shisa felt Akane tense beneath him and could tell that if he wasn't sitting on her legs she would have jumped up.

"What do you want?" Akane growled as the puppet sat down in front of them.

"You don't make very good shisa."

The indifferent statement made both of the shisa stare. Akane answered in a low flat voice, "What?"

"The male shisa is afraid of cats and neither of you are very good at getting rid of evil spirits."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Ranma responded sarcastically.

"You're getting better," He directed his attention toward Ranma, "but your fear is a major setback."

Ranma snapped defensively, "Not when I use the Cat Fist, it isn't."

The Godling shook His head, "Since becoming shisa you no longer possess the Cat Fist." He calmly looked the shisa in the eye, "Now it is nothing but a weakness. I also see my spirit lessons have not been enough."

"You could change us back," Akane suggested.

The puppet ignored her and continued, "I will ask someone to help teach you. Things are going to become busy. The day after the full moon the final ritual will take place, establishing my presence among mortals. The Amazons, and perhaps your piglet visitor as well, will stay for the week and a half to help with preparations." He watched Ranma and Akane as they remained silent, "I will no longer be limited to the Temple-Palace after the ceremony."

"Will you let us go then? And change us back?" Ranma probed.

"I want to keep an eye on you two." The emotionless response sent a spike of resentment through Ranma. "After all," the Godling continued, "while you successfully eliminated a shadow sprite, two other spirits got away and one of you managed to get hurt in the process."

Ranma immediately responded by getting to his feet with a growl. Akane took the opportunity to roll onto her stomach.

"Calm down, I have something that will help." The words sounded very odd when said in a monotone.

Ranma watched suspiciously as the Godling pulled a small jar out of his sleeve. After opening it to reveal a greenish paste, the puppet scooped some onto His fingers and began reaching for Akane's side.

That is where Ranma drew the line. Snarling he positioned himself between his former body and Akane.

The Godling froze, a mildly confused expression briefly filtered across His face.

Ranma growled, "What is that stuff?"

"An herbal salve made from the offerings of my followers," was the emotionless reply.

"What is it supposed to do?" Akane, still lying on her stomach, asked.

"It has been blessed to help wounds heal faster," the monotone voice replied. The puppet then reached toward Akane's side once more.

Ranma shoved the Godling's arm away. He couldn't stand the thought of the puppet ever touching Akane. "Let me do it then," the request came out as more of a demand, and Ranma swiped his paw at the salve in the Godling's hand.

With the soft grainy salve covering his paw pad he turned toward Akane. Gently he began to rub it into her side, watching her for any reaction. Akane just watched him back.

During all this Ranma was keenly aware of the puppet watching them. When Ranma ran out of salve on his paw the Godling silently offered him some more. Since the salve didn't seem to hurt Akane Ranma continued to wipe the salve on her until her cut was covered.

Only then did the Godling give a brief bow as goodbye and left them.

"The salve sort of feels like a bandage," Akane paused before looking up into Ranma's eyes, "Thank you, Ranma."

Ranma wanted to ask why she was thanking him, but the pounding footsteps from the Temple-Palace distracted him.

Akane's sisters, both with giddy expressions rushed to their sides.

"We did it! We found the spell!" Nabiki exclaimed while trying to be quiet.

"The spell I found to put a soul into a new body? There is a way to reverse it to put the soul back into its original form!" Kasumi explained.

Ranma felt his ears perk up as their excitement enveloped him. He barely noticed Akane sit up beside him.

"It has to happen the day after a full moon but that will give us time, about a week and a half, to prepare everything," Nabiki continued.

At that Ranma caught Akane's eye. Akane voiced their mutual thought, "The Godling is planning a ritual the day after the full moon to fully establish Himself."

The sisters paused, considering what Akane said. "Even better then, the Temple inhabitants should be too busy to notice what we're doing," Nabiki grinned as Kasumi beside her nodded.

"We finally will be human again!" Akane gleefully exclaimed.

Ranma couldn't help rumbling happily in agreement.

"How exactly does the spell work?"

"Don't worry about that, Nabiki and I will work it all out," Kasumi reassured her little sister.

…

Happy New Year.


	11. Mysterious Divine

Mysterious Divine

Disclaimer: The same one as always.

…..

Three days had passed and Akane found herself back in the library. Ranma slouched beside her with the pre-dawn light filtering in through the doorway. The Godling had awakened them moments before and herded the groggy shisa to the back for another "lesson". Supposedly their new teacher would arrive soon to instruct them.

Akane yawned unconsciously showing off her canines and tried to blink herself awake. Her sisters had visited late last night with a troublesome piece of information.

There were two possible outcomes of the spell and the way the scroll was written it was unclear which was right. Either their current shisa bodies would be remolded into the human bodies they should have, or the spell would yank their souls out of the shisa and send them back to their original bodies. If the latter were true they would face some major problems; Ranma's body was currently occupied by the Godling and Akane's body was at the bottom of the sea.

Nabiki had been adamant that the only way to tell was to figure out how the original spell worked. To do that she insisted they needed to find out if there had been shisa at the Temple-Palace before Ranma and Akane became resident guardians. It made little sense to Akane's sleep depraved mind, but the gist was if there were shisa before then the spell moved souls around, if there were not shisa beforehand then it molded their bodies anew. The sisters left the task of finding out to Ranma and Akane for now. It was a long time after the sisters left before Akane could fall asleep again.

Akane felt her head drooping and jerked her head up, trying to keep her eyes open. Beside her, Ranma sprawled out not even attempting to stay awake anymore. Watching the steady rise and fall of his chest and the faint morning glow highlighting his golden mane, Akane felt very tempted to collapse on him like a big fluffy pillow.

As Akane watched her hazy mind began to wander, why was Ranma's fur golden? From looking at his human form she would have expected him to have black luscious fur like his pigtail or perhaps some vibrant red from his female half, not golden. Even if it was his skin tone his fur color was based on she would not have called Ranma "golden", so why as a shisa was he? The only features the same were his eyes. Come to think of it her fur was a matching shade of golden yellow. She had hardly been any more "golden" than Ranma before, so why the color?

They were even about the same size which had clearly not been the case before; her eyes had been level with male Ranma's chin before. Now the only size difference was that Ranma's current frame was slightly more…robust than hers, but not obviously so. The only feature not matching between them was their eye color, and their sex, of course, but Akane was not about to let anyone close enough examine that. Thus the only real way for anyone to tell them apart was Ranma's blue-black eyes and her deep brown ones.

Akane sagged, her thoughts becoming fuzzy again. Giving in to temptation she dropped on Ranma and buried her nose in his soft fur. He growled slightly at the sudden weight but otherwise didn't protest. Akane's last waking thought filtered through her mind about paired shisa always matching.

….

A soft breeze carrying the faint scent of mint reached her nose causing Akane to flick her ear and bury her nose farther into her pillow. The breeze persisted ruffling her fur, her pillow grumbled and shifted. Akane squeezed her eyes tighter and ignored it all.

If she wasn't trying so hard to return to sleep Akane probably would have been more worried that the wind had shifted to stroke her head and back. Phantom fingers began scratching behind her ears and she rumbled, until she remembered where she was. Shooting up suddenly she swerved around and tripped on Ranma in the process. Ranma let out a whoosh of breath and stood up flipping Akane over his back.

Soft familiar laughter brought both shisas' attention to the side where Tofu Ono sat quietly. "I certainly have my work cut out for me," he smiled softly as Akane gawked at his transparent form.

Akane straightened herself, still staring. She could not deny that it was the young healer from her village. He still had the same warm confident reassuring smile and soft friendly gaze that she had cherished when she was little. Akane was somewhat tempted to mention Kasumi to see if Tofu's gaze would vacate and his clumsy inattentiveness would return.

At the same time she was having lots of trouble grasping his presence. He had, after all, gone missing a year and a half ago only to suddenly now reappear. Not only that, but he was quite translucent. There was no denying the shimmer of his form or how she could outline each book placed on the shelf behind him.

Ranma was the first to recover, "Doc? What happened to you? You're see-through!"

The Healer's smile wavered and he sighed sadly. "It started when I left the village to trade for supplies in the city…"

"That's right! You never came back!" Akane accused out of the blue, her sudden irrational anger at Tofu abandoning her sister returning.

Tofu's look became grim, "I had every intention of returning. Until I died."

Silence answered him. Akane kept wondering how the healthy, strong, careful, young healer she knew could have died. Eventually she whispered, "How?"

The man turned spirit sighed, "I didn't know it at the time, but a shadow sprite had latched onto me and was feeding off my insecurity." Tofu gave a wry grin, "that's why I could never act properly in front of Kasumi. Anyway, the sprite itself did not kill me, just weakened my spirit enough for the ogre."

"The ogre?" The way Tofu said it sent a shiver up Akane's spine.

"Ogres, I discovered, are the underlings of Glorious Will. When He requests it of them, they often eagerly carry out the Glorious' will, serving as his henchmen if you will." Tofu shifted and continued, "The ogre attacked me at dusk on my way back from the city. I guess between the ogre and the shadow sprite depleting me, I died. Before I even fully understood what happened I was standing outside my body with the ogre on one side and the shadow sprite on the other. "

The former healer paused, both the shisa had their rapt attention on their friend.

"Before the ogre or the shadow sprite could grasp me, a shield spirit saved me and brought me before The Great One."

Ranma made a discontented noise as Akane snorted. Once Akane would have listened to this tale with fascination; The Great One was after all the deity who offered protection, courage, strength, success, and wisdom. She used to really think He was the guide of the living like the majority of her friends and family, now she wasn't so sure.

There were two other deities in addition to The Great One her home village had occasionally paid homage to: the Glorious Will and Fey. Akane, and all the other people she had ever known, had all believed that of the three The Great One was the most advantageous to have on their side and had focused their worship on Him. The Glorious Will was known to those who sought power, gain, and everlasting unchanging life, but He was also known to be harsh and demanding. Fey mostly played around in the world; She was the trickster, joker full of games and laughter. She was the one who filled the world with mysteries and illusions, and while Her adventures sometimes hurt ultimately She brought her followers peace and joy.

Tofu broke through Akane's thoughts when he continued with his narrative, "The Great One saved my soul from the grasps of the Glorious Will, for that I am grateful. He gave me the chance to watch and help my still living loved ones. I agreed and He is allowing me to wander and watch as a shield spirit."

The healer raised his eyes to pierce the shisas' in front of him, "Ranma, Akane, I know you are mad at The Great One right now, but He is here to help all mortals. He did what He must to come here and save not only you but multitudes of others. Yes, He changed you into shisa but He did so in a way that both saved you and gave you the opportunity to battle alongside Him." The transparent healer squared his shoulders and continued, "That is why when He asked I came here to teach you how to be shisa."

Akane didn't know how to react. She didn't know what to feel. So she sat there stunned, staring at her deceased transparent friend and tried to absorb it all. Should she be happy she got to see him again and learn his fate? Or devastated that he had apparently sided with The Great One? She wondered if Tofu was brainwashed.

Then again, from his story she could understand his position. The Great One had helped him.

She wondered if she and Ranma were brainwashed. The Great One was manipulating them, but based on this new information about ogres serving the Glorious Will, that deity did not care for mortals as well. Akane wondered if Fey was in on this too, if all the humans were just pawns to be used, neglected, and abused that the Deities just dominated whenever they wanted.

All the Deities promised their followers satisfaction from life, only the methods were different; The Great One through hard work, Glorious Will through luck and gain, and Fey through play. Akane had never considered it before, but how did they, the mortals, know that they would get the happy life they asked for? Were these Deities really out to help any of them? Whose side was anyone on anymore?

….

….

Finally!

Part of the reason I took so long was that I was unsure how to add all that new information and still keep the chapter interesting. Not to mention keeping the new information easy to follow. I would love feedback on how I did in that regard.

At one point I was going to have all the spirits be Japanese… instead I ended up just making them up as I go. It might work out better this way, now I can do whatever I need to with the spirits and deities without worrying about authenticity. On the other hand this means I get to name everything, I tend to be terrible at naming things. In particular I keep looking at the Glorious Will and thinking, Really? That's the name I came up with?

Unfortunately I have no idea how long it will be before I finish the next chapter.


	12. Need to Focus

Need to Focus

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½. I would hope everyone would know this by now.

….

Ranma could only stare at Tofu while the healer explained some ability or other he and Akane gained as shisa. Several hours had passed since Tofu re-entered their lives, but Ranma was still grappling with his story.

There had been a time when Ranma considered switching his devotion from The Great One to Glorious Will. But the ones who paid for the Glorious' favors were not always one and the same as those who received them. Sometimes an innocent suffered so that the Glorious' followers would benefit. Ranma could not compromise his honor in that way and had stayed with The Great One.

How had Tofu ended up the target of the Glorious Will? His ogres were known to be the ones to seek out the payment owed, but general consensus was that they found those who should have bettered their ways. How did the good healer become a target? The only way was for someone who was an acquaintance of Tofu to have been Glorious' follower and asked for a favor that was beyond the follower's means to pay.

Who did they know that could be one of the Glorious' followers?

The sound of pounding feet interrupted his thoughts and the voice of the shield spirit.

"You pig! Come back here!" Shampoo's strangled shout carried through the doors, "No one dare steal Shampoo's hairpin!"

A black blur whirled through the door, missing hairpin in his mouth, turned around and snarled at the door.

Upon passing through the doorway the Amazon warrior for once in her life stopped her attack and stared at the sight before her. Paling she backed away slightly.

Ranma almost let out a snarl to scare the girl off more, but Akane grumbled and pounced on Ryoga before he put thought to action.

The little pig squealed and streaked out of Akane's grip, unfortunately keeping a tight hold on the hairpin along the way. Akane gave chase but Ryoga launched and rocketed himself against the walls. Ranma watched their antics, recalling how annoying the little bugger had been when he did much the same to him upon Ranma's discovery of pig Ryoga getting overly close as Akane's pet. Briefly Ranma wondered if Fey was behind this particular scene since so many gods seemed to be influencing their lives lately. The ridiculously humorous scene was certainly right up with Her tastes.

Oddly enough the former healer instead of sitting back and watching their antics as he had when he was alive was staring grimly at the piglet. When Ryoga shot past him Tofu snapped him up by the bandana and lifted him high so that Akane sailed through the empty space to land on the other side.

All turned to stare at Tofu and Ryoga as the shield spirit lowered the pig to his eye level. Glowing embers appeared in the once gentle man's eyes as he stared into Ryoga's eyes. Ryoga dropped the hairpin.

"You have the mark of the Glorious," Tofu spoke in an even voice, but Ranma still winced in surprise at the angry edge to his words.

Ryoga worshipped the Glorious Will?

"Aiyaa! A ghost!" Shampoo exclaimed, breaking Ranma from his thoughts. He noted that the Amazon made no move to leave despite her comment.

Tofu lowered his arm holding the squirming piglet, changing his demeanor once again into something more recognizable, "Good morning Miss Shampoo! Yes, I regret to inform you that I am no longer alive." The healer deftly changed the subject to inquire into how the Amazon was doing so smoothly Ranma almost missed it.

Shampoo for her part just fell to her knees as if her senses had overloaded. Of course this was the moment Mousse came sliding around the corner to trip over Shampoo and land sprawling just inside the room.

Staring in disbelief Ranma was wondering just how accurate his previous thought about Fey influencing them had been when Akane dryly commented from her position, "Gee, we just need my sisters and then everyone who knows about us will be in one place."

Tofu swung wildly at Akane's words and Ryoga slipped out of his grasp, "K-Kasumi is coming?! She can't see me like this!"

Ranma, still in the center of all the commotion, watched amused as the Amazons, just getting to their feet were tripped by the freed Ryoga bouncing off the walls and Tofu faded away completely. Yup, the whole situation definitely had to be the work of Fey.

Akane moved beside him and gave a huff of annoyance, "This is ridiculous."

….

Back standing guard at the front of the Temple, Ranma stared bored out the front gates. He almost wished their 'lessons' had continued, at least it had been entertaining once their former acquaintances showed up and chaos reigned. All the commotion, however, attracted the attention of the Apprentice Server. When he showed up Ranma and Akane froze leaving the Amazons chasing after a piglet trying to explain whose fault the ensuing mess was. That in of itself was entertaining to watch, until the redheaded form of the Godling entered. One look at the redhead's face and the Amazons and Ryoga started to clean up the mess, the Apprentice was dismissed, and the shisa were sent back on guard duty.

Ranma glanced at Akane on the other side of the path. She appeared troubled and honestly he couldn't blame her. Perhaps they could use this time to plan. Or at least they could if it weren't for the occasional visitor causing them to freeze.

"Hey." Ranma tried after the last person passed.

Akane hummed in response but otherwise kept her troubled look.

"We'll figure it out and get through this, Akane."

She glanced at him then before turning her gaze on the ground, "I don't know what to think about much of anything, anymore."

Ranma snorted, "With this mess with gods I don't either, so… forget it for now. Let's concentrate on becoming human again."

The corner of Akane's mouth curled, "How can we do that when the 'gods' keep messing with our lives?"

At that Ranma stood up, raised his head and pushed out his chest in an approximation of his former boastful pose. "Have you forgotten? I am Ranma Saotome, the greatest martial artist! I am not about to let gods or demons get in the way of my goals." He earned a slight rumble from Akane. Turning toward her he continued, "and neither should you."

She looked up at him and purred ever so slightly. Shaking herself, Ranma's only warning was the glint in her eye before she pounced on him. Now on his side with Akane half on top of him, she growled in his ear, "So how do we discover if there were shisa here before?"

Ranma gulped, he could feel her breath on his ear and her growl all the way to his bones. At least she was distracted from her troubled mood.

"W-well…we could…er," he tried but his mind didn't seem to be cooperating at the moment.

"Hmmm…" the voice hummed above him. Akane, curse her, didn't seem to be having any problems. "The best ones to ask would be the Servers only we freeze every time they get near…"

Enough was enough, Ranma was not about to let Akane have all the glory in coming up with the plan. He rolled so that she slid onto the ground next to him. Finally able to think about what was said Ranma added, "The Apprentice seems a bit more aware than the others of what is going on."

Akane countered, "True, but we don't want him to be too aware of what is going on, or he might tell the Godling what we are up to."

"Asking about previous shisa won't be suspicious enough." Ranma maneuvered so that he half-stood over, half-sat next to, Akane. It was time for him to get some revenge. He quickly and lightly licked her ear. To his delight she twitched.

"W-we still can't move in front of him." Success! Akane didn't seem to be thinking to clearly anymore. That is, until she huffed in annoyance muscled her way out from under him. Matching his posture and glaring at him to stop being distracting.

Ranma relented, for the moment.

"Maybe we could make some sort of sign? Just to get him to realize his suspicions are right, and to get some answers from him?" Akane mused, continuing the conversation as if nothing else had occurred.

Ranma smirked, this could be fun. "So we want to convince the Apprentice we are alive in order to get answers from him." He glanced over at Akane with a mischievous glint in his eye. She appeared slightly surprised at the conclusion they had been dancing around, but had no opportunity for another reaction before Ranma pounced on her.

…

An Update! How long has it been? (Er…Don't answer that).

Constructive criticism and feedback are welcome.


	13. Playing Pranks

Playing Pranks

Disclaimer: Insert disclaimer here. Ranma ½ is not mine.

…

Step one, raise suspicion.

Step two, draw attention.

Step three, unsettle and unnerve until they couldn't be ignored.

That was the plan to get the Apprentice's attention. Akane was sure they would also probably make him really paranoid. Still, if the Apprentice realized they were alive, they could get a few answers from him. If he did not realize the shisa were alive they would have one less server to deal with when the boy would freak out and flee. Luckily, step one already was in place judging from the Apprentice's questioning of why the shisa change positions. Too bad the other servers kept insisting it was all the power of The Great One.

Akane sat at the edge of the Temple's roof overlooking the servers' individual rooms. Concentrate on the plan, she told herself, don't think about Deities or what a mess her life had become. Ranma will stay with her no matter what. Her claws dug into the tiles as she recalled once again how she got up here.

Ranma had been more than a little frustrated to learn he couldn't jump straight up onto the roof the way he could back when he was human. Instead to get one of them on the roof Ranma had to precariously balance on the railing and simultaneously boost Akane whose hind limbs were standing on his shoulders. During the ordeal a worshiper did come through and they had to freeze, Ranma bent at an unnatural and certainly uncomfortable angle with Akane on his shoulders. The female shisa could feel Ranma straining as the visitor gawked at them. She hoped the man would have the sense to question someone about the shisa once he got inside, but no such luck. As soon as Akane managed to grip the roof's edge and haul herself up Ranma had lost his balance from leaning too far and fell to the ground on his face. Nursing his nose, Ranma remained at the front of the Temple.

Returning to the present, Akane estimated she was currently over the Apprentice's room. Leaning down further so that her head and forelimbs hung over the edge the female shisa observed the shadows the servers cast from inside. It was time to make some noise, so she opened her mouth and rumbled. At the sound of her own voice she cringed, it sounded like tumbling rocks. When neither the Apprentice, nor anyone else for that matter, responded she continued a little louder.

As Akane sang her odd rock song, the calico cat approached her on the roof. The cat sat next to Akane and cocked her head. After a moment the cat leaned over the side with Akane. When Akane caught sight of the cat out of the corner of her eye she jumped and unfortunately lost her hold on the roof in the process. Twisting in the air, Akane landed on her feet with a thud. In response the Apprentice opened his door and the shisa froze. The young man blinked in surprise at the shisa standing right outside his door. Much to Akane's disappointment he merely muttered under his breath about the mysteries of the Great One and turned back inside.

Alright, that was a start. Akane sat down and started to hum, the sound vibrating like a cat's purr. The calico took this opportunity to get off the roof by jumping on Akane's head as a stepping stone. The shisa snorted in response and moved away from the crazy cat and resumed rumbling. The cat observed her for a few minutes and Akane ignored her in return. That is until the cat moved closer to her and started yowling. Akane immediately jumped into a crouch and flattened her ears. Before she could do anything else several doors opened as a number of servers poked their heads out. The Apprentice picked up the cat as his superiors grumbled and all went back inside.

While Akane was trying to decide what she should do next, Shampoo came out and snorted, "What you doing, crazy shisa?"

Well, she wouldn't be raising further suspicions with Shampoo around. After giving a non-informative answer Akane crept away to meet Ranma in the front.

….

The next morning, a week before the full moon, the shisa had their chance at gaining the Apprentice's attention again. He came out with their breakfast, a pail and ladle. After blessing the breakfast as every server did the young man set down the pail and ladle and returned inside.

After quickly eating, Ranma glanced at Akane to make sure she was thinking the same thing; the Apprentice must be planning to return shortly. Ranma then balanced his now empty breakfast bowl on his head and leaned back on his hind limbs. Akane meanwhile continued to finish her meal, having not wolfed it down like Ranma. Still, Ranma supposed the fact she was obviously eating the 'offering' should be surprising. It was amazing how none of the servers had yet questioned where the food disappeared to, or why statues would need breakfast.

The Apprentice did not disappoint. He returned shortly with a broom causing Ranma's mouth to open while Akane's slammed shut. The disappointment came when the young man walked right past the shisa and proceeded to begin splashing water on the path and sweeping the excess water off.

Ranma was beginning to regret the position he took. Shisa were not meant to support their entire weight on the hind limbs for extended periods of time. Luckily, the Apprentice ran out of water about a quarter of the way down the path and disappeared with the pail around the right side of the Temple.

This time Ranma snatched Akane's tail in his mouth and sprawled out across the dead center of the path where the Apprentice had not managed to wash yet. Akane huffed indignantly and tried to tug her tail out of his mouth.

The Apprentice chose that moment to return and he blinked at the sight of the shisa. One of the lion-dogs was spread out in the center of the path with his companion's tail in his mouth. The other shisa was twisted around to snarl at her partner.

Ranma inwardly grinned at achieving their goal and getting Akane to adorably glare at him. The male shisa deflated when he heard the Apprentice mutter, "The Godling is wise to position the shisa so, it clearly expresses unwelcome to harmful spirits. I just wish He had moved them after I cleaned the path!"

With that Ranma exhaled in annoyance as the man proceeded to wash around him. Instead of dwelling on the disappointments of the moment Ranma let his mind wander. Naturally it landed on Akane. Some days he missed making her glare at him, she was so cute. Sobering, he reflected how they had never been as close as they were now; if only it hadn't taken major life changes to get where they were. He felt his face heat and his lips curl upward ever so slightly as he thought of their last encounter. Too bad they were essentially always out in the open without any guarantee of privacy. Not that they would have had any privacy when they were both human. Oddly enough they seemed to have more alone time now, out in the open, than they ever had the few times they were together as humans.

Ranma frowned slightly, when they returned to human forms (Ranma didn't let any doubt sift into his mind about whether they would change back) would they still be able to find any privacy?

Another presence stepped out from the Temple-Palace and broke Ranma's thoughts. It was the Godling, currently in female form, short red hair catching the morning sun.

The Apprentice was so focused on his task it took him a moment to realize the Godling was there. Jumping in surprise he stuttered, "Y-your Majesty!" He fumbled, dropping his broom and knocking over his pail before bowing respectfully.

Ranma watched as the puppet merely blinked at the commotion. "Rise," He commanded the Apprentice and watched as the young man jerked in compliance. An awkward silence followed as the Apprentice was too nervous to do anything and the Godling seemed to be memorizing every detail of the scene before Him.

Finally the puppet spoke again, addressing the Apprentice server, "Your diligence is honorable, continue your task."

The Apprentice bowed again briefly, and then fled with his pail to refill it.

As soon as he was gone the puppet continued, "You should not disrupt the servers."

Ranma let go of Akane's tail, sat up and snorted, "And you have a lot of nerve to ask that after all your 'servers' did to us." Mostly Ranma was trying to distract the Godling, hoping He wouldn't think too much about why he and Akane were disrupting the Apprentice server.

The redhead blinked, "Does cleaning the path harm you?" The question came out straight, monotonous and honest.

Akane barked out a surprised cough and Ranma glanced at her and growled.

When He received no response the puppet spoke again, "Midday you two and your acquaintances will meet for a collective discussion and lesson in preparation for the ceremony the day after the full moon."

Before either of the shisa could respond the Apprentice returned and they froze, now on either side of the path facing the Temple.

The Apprentice hesitated briefly, "M-my Lord, I-I don't mean to question your ways but, there is something I've been wondering…"

After a long silence where the young man failed to continue the puppet prompted, "Continue."

"Why are these shisa's eyes different colors when the stone ones currently in back were painted the same?"

Ranma's eyes widened as much as they could while he was still frozen. The male shisa had forgotten about the small stone shisa he glimpsed every time they went to the back room for a lesson. The stone shisa were there before he and Akane were; what did this mean in terms of the spell to change them back? Ranma watched as a corner of the Godling's lip turned upwards.

"Your observations serve me well. These shisa form a stronger defense than the ones in back." With that the Godling returned inside leaving the Apprentice, still slightly jittery, to resume washing the path.

….

….

Thanks for the feedback!

Alas, I do not think another update is likely for the next several months. Hopefully this one will tide you over.

Ranma and Akane have been shisa for three weeks (I'm keeping track of time within the story via moon phase), they have at least one more week to go and then who knows? (Well, I know). For the romantic encounters I don't specifically detail, I'll leave up to you what does or does not happen, as long as it's mutually satisfying.


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